Energy, Gas, Gas Market , Good for Business, Latvia
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Thursday, 28.03.2024, 17:37
Turnover of Latvijas Gaze natural gas utility up 38.9% in H1
Latvijas Gaze parent company in the first six months
posted EUR 170.066 mln in sales, up 50.3%, and the company posted EUR 4.317 mln
in loss in contrast to a profit in the respective period last year.
The company’s management reported that two main factors
strongly influenced the operating environment for gas traders in Latvia and the
Baltic region during the first half of 2019. Firstly, above seasonal-normal
temperatures in Latvia as well as in many parts of Europe and Asia led to lower
natural gas demand during the core winter months. The average air temperature
in Latvia during the period January to June 2019 was 1.5 degrees Celsius higher
than during the same period in 2018. Secondly, prices at European natural gas
hubs collapsed. During the first six months of the year the price for the
GASPOOL front month index, which serves as one of the key reference prices in
the Baltic region, dropped by more than 40%. Apart from that, hub prices
exhibited a strong short-term volatility including days with price movements of
more than one Euro per MWh. Both the mild winter as well as the fall of market
prices created significant challenges for natural gas traders in the region and
Europe alike.
In the first six months of this year, Latvijas Gaze
sold 755 mln cubic meters or 7.952 GWh of natural gas to more than 400,000
customers or by 54% more than in the first six months last year.
In the first six months of 2018, Latvijas Gaze
concern reported EUR 140.477 mln in sales and earned EUR 21.768 mln in profit.
Latvijas Gaze group's major shareholders were Gazprom
(34% of shares), Marguerite Gas (28.97 %), Uniper Ruhrgas
International (18.26%), and Itera Latvija (16%). Latvijas Gaze
shares are listed on the Nasdaq Riga stock exchange.