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Despite the opening to competition from the natural gas market in the European Union, gas prices are still vary from simple to triple between Member States...It should also be noted that the countries of Eastern Europe, because of their geographical and economic situation, stand out with prices much lower than those in the west.

Gas prices for individuals in Europe

The European Union began, from the mid -1990s, an important reform of its gas sector.The goal ?Reach a single gas market with more competition, in particular through the interoperability of networks and the development of exchanges between the Member States.Since the liberalization of the natural gas market in 2007, all European consumers can - in theory - choose their supplier and take advantage of the benefits of competition.But in practice, not all the Member States have taken this stage;and liberalization is not always synonymous with lower prices.

Gas prices in France on average more expensive than in other European countries

In 2016, the average price of natural gas in the European Union for individuals has established 6.4 cents of euros including tax per kWh according to Eurostat data.He fell sharply compared to the previous year, since he was 7.1 cents in 2015 in 2015.France keeps prices slightly higher than the European average, with a price per kWh of gas to 6.8 cents on average.France is thus classified in 17th in Europe, tied with Ireland and in the low average of the western countries of the old continent.

Save money on your invoices to find cheaper gas offers, you can contact a Selectra advisor on free on 09 73 72 73 00 (or free reminder).It will analyze your consumption profile and your type of housing (surface, number of equipment, location, etc..) to estimate your invoices with cheaper suppliers.

What is the cheapest country in Europe for gas?

The European country in which the cost of natural gas is the cheapest for individuals is Bulgaria, with an average kWh price of 3.1 cents of euros TTC.Note also that this large country in Eastern Europe is also the cheapest European country for electricity.It is followed very closely by Romania and Estonia, two other countries close to the Russian Federation, the main gas producer in the world.

According to the European Energy Commission, 10% of European households are in a situation of energy precariousness.In some countries, 30% of individuals cannot pay their gas and/or electricity bills.

Price of natural gas per country in the European Union for individuals

You will find below a mapping of the tariffs TTC means of natural gas within the European Union in 2016.Note that the gas market for domestic use is not significant in Cyprus, Malta and Finland, these countries have not communicated any data on the price of gas.

Here are the same data displayed in vertical bar diagram to realize the price differences from one member state of the EU to the other for domestic uses.

Zoom on...The natural gas market in Romania after the Netherlands and the United Kingdom, Romania is the third producer of natural gas in the European Union.In 2014, the country produced 11.4 billion m3 of natural gas covering almost 75% of its annual consumption.For a long time, the country has slowed down the liberalization of its energy market, which has earned it many reminders to the order of the European Commission.In Romania, the system of regulated gas prices for individuals is intended to disappear by 2021.In France, the end of regulated gas prices was announced for 2023 by the Minister of Economy Bruno Le Maire.

Natural gas prices for professionals in the European Union

In 2016, the price of natural gas in the European Union for professionals and industrialists established on average at 3 cents of euros including tax per kWh.France is the second most expensive country in Europe for professionals for professionals, tied with the Swedes who also pay an average kWh price of 3.8 cents.It should also be noted that the price in France has remained stable in previous years when it has dropped a lot for the majority of EU member states.While the liberalization of the gas market for professionals was launched about fifteen years ago, the cheaper price promise is not held.

Natural gas price for professionals in the European Union country by country

The gas market for professional use is not significant for the islands of Cyprus and Malta, no data has been communicated to Eurostat.This is why there is no figure on these countries within the graphics below.

As we can see here, the Netherlands are close to the average price of gas.However, we could expect lower prices for the main natural gas producer of the European Union.

How to explain the price differences in natural gas in Europe?

Countries close to favored Russia

It is generally noted that countries close to Russia have lower average prices than the rest of Europe.This is explained by the fact that energy has much less way to go to reach homes and businesses in these countries.However, supply and routing represent the vast majority of the cost of natural gas.

Also, Russia is keen to keep relationships close with its close neighbors, who were still part of the USSR several decades ago.The supply of natural gas, vital for these harsh winter countries, is therefore a geostrategic lever of primary importance.

Few producing countries in Europe

The first important discoveries of natural gas deposit in Europe date from the 1950s and 1960s.Norway (which does not belong to the European Union), the Netherlands, the United Kingdom (and to a lesser extent Germany, Italy and France) then begin to produce natural gas for thedomestic consumption and export.However, the dependence of the European Union vis-à-vis third countries increases rapidly while its production declines.Today, Russia is the first natural gas supplier in Europe, ahead of Norway.However, the more limited the number of exporters, the more threatened the security of the supply of the European Union is.

It is for this reason that European countries are starting to invest in the development of biogas.The local biomethane sectors grow at an exponential rate, since it will ultimately reduce their trade balance and their dependence on Russian, Algerian, Norwegian and Gulf countries.

The impact of taxes on the gas bill in Europe

In some countries, like Denmark or Greece, gas taxes and samples particularly weigh down household bills and represent up to half of the invoices.Conversely, they are zero outside VAT in other countries such as Hungary, Croatia, Bulgaria or Poland.

In France, taxes represent approximately a third of the invoices, and this proportion will grow in the coming years with the very high planned increase in TICGN.

Long -term contracts, economy and geopolitics

To get supplies, suppliers can use wholesale markets or sign long -term contracts with gas extracting companies.They have a duration of up to 30 years, in order to ensure both parties of long -term guarantees.In general, gas prices depend on the economy and geopolitics.Indeed, gas prices are still often indexed to parity between local currency and the dollar, but also on oil prices.Thus, the economic and financial situation of a country will have an impact on gas prices.In the same way, tensions between two countries or in a natural gas export region will increase gas prices.

European policies for natural gas

Of public monopolies to the European gas market

In most European countries, the gas sector was organized from the 1950s around national public companies, holders of law monopolies or imports: Gaz de France in France, British Gas in the United Kingdom,Eni in Italy, distrigas in Belgium, Gasunie in the Netherlands.But it is now far away from the monopolies.Since the opening of the market to competition in 2007, Europeans have had access to a multitude of suppliers.

The main objectives of the European Energy Policy:

The president of the European Commission Jean-Claude Juncker proposed in July 2014 the establishment of a European energy Union.In November 2015 was submitted the first report on the State of the Energy Union.Among the elements appearing in this report was adopted a proposal for a settlement on statistics relating to the prices of electricity and natural gas.Once adopted, this regulation should make it possible to improve European statistics on energy prices.

Evolution of gas demand in Europe

The EU should see its population stagnate by 2030, and its economic activity grow weakly.EU efforts in terms of energy efficiency should help reduce natural gas demand, and therefore natural gas prices.On the contrary, the share of natural gas in primary energy consumption should drop from 24.1% in 2005 to 30.1% in 2030 (according to Eurogas), due to the increase in gas consumption forelectricity production.Many countries very dependent on other fossil fuels (coal) for their electricity production, such as Germany or Denmark, should indeed replace their coal -fired power plants with gas power plants, much less emitting gas greenhouse gases.

In total, the demand for natural gas in Europe should therefore remain very stable, due to the contradictory effects of improving energy efficiency and the increase in electricity production from natural gas.

Evolutions of gas prices in Europe

In recent years, with the slowdown in European growth and the decline in oil prices, there has been an evolution in low -declining gas prices in Europe.We note that the producing countries are pulling it slightly better than the others;they are in fact more interest in consuming the energy they extract rather than selling it to other countries when prices drop.