Energy Minister Miriam Dalli has today confirmed in a video message that the gas purchase contract with BP has been set at market prices (Dutch TTF), contrary to previous agreements which had exotic price mechanisms that only favoured the supplier and led the government to make significant losses.
The contract has not been published yet; however, this is a step in the right direction after a series of massively imprudent and bad decisions taken by the Energy Ministry and Enemalta. Buying at market prices is not ideal is not ideal at these prices, but it is much better than betting against them since the trend is down.
There are still many questions which need to be answered, such as why it is the government that is making the gas purchase agreement and not Electrogas. If the government is purchasing the gas that is being used for the Electrogas power station, Electrogas is basically useless, since we do not need Electrogas to simply run a power plant and charge a middleman fee.
However, things are already improving, showing that constant pressure and scrutiny pay off. Now, the next step should be for the government to explain why Electrogas is not purchasing the gas itself and what Electrogas’s role is in Malta’s energy supply chain.
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