A “significant increase in the prices of natural gas could lead to an extraordinary revision of the regulated tariff”, explain reports this morning.
Meaning: energy prices will be rising, and very soon. Indeed as this text went online, CNN Portugal was reporting on increases in the price of natural gas across Europe of over 40%.
Minister for the environment João Pedro Matos Fernandes said yesterday – before Russia launched its attack on Ukraine – that price increases were “inevitable”
“Whoever uses natural gas directly will feel this… Portugal doesn’t fix this price (for natural gas) ; it is the price of a commodity fixed at a global level”.
The country has around 35% of its electrical production generated by natural gas, thus the government has already conceded that any price increases will extend to those for electricity.
According to data from the DGEG (general directorate of energy and geology) almost half of natural gas consumed in Portugal is supplied by Nigeria. The country’s exposure to Russian gas is minimal, ‘around 10%’, albeit no Russian gas has been consumed since the latter part of last year.
