EU energy ministers to hold urgent meeting amid energy crisis

By Nuran Erkul Kaya

ANKARA (AA) - European Union (EU) energy ministers will convene for an urgent meeting to discuss specific emergency measures to address the recent energy crisis, the Czech Republic's Prime Minister Petr Fiala announced Friday on his Twitter account.

"We are in an energy war with Russia and it is damaging the whole. In agreement with the European Commission and Prime Minister Petr Fiala, I will propose to convene an extraordinary meeting of the EU Energy Council at the earliest possible date," Josef Sikela, minister of Industry and Trade of the Czech Republic, also said on his social media account.

The EU energy ministers were due to meet in a meeting planned for Oct. 11-12 in Prague, but a date for an urgent meeting has yet to be announced.

The EU is trying hard to secure gas supplies ahead of the winter as natural gas flows from Russia to the EU continue to drop.

Natural gas prices in Europe increased by about 127.6% in the six months since the start of the Russia-Ukraine war.

The price of natural gas per megawatt-hour for March contracts in Europe, trading on the Netherlands-based virtual natural gas trading point (TTF), reached €128.31 ($128.36) on Feb. 24, at the start of the war.

However, the price for September futures contracts, which opened at €272 ($272.12) per megawatt-hour on Wednesday, ended the day at €292.15 ($292.32) per megawatt-hour.

The EU's post-war sanctions, the reduction in fossil fuels imported from Russia and reduced gas flow to Europe ramped up prices.