In its new forecast, the European Central Bank (ECB) sets the average wholesale gas price in the eurozone at €124 per megawatt hour in 2023 (around €1,270 per thousand cubic meters at euro-US dollar parity) against €123 in 2022. Why are wholesale gas prices rising?

“The Natural Gas Futures curve for the Dutch TTF remains elevated at €124 per MWh during 2023,” the regulator said in its December macroeconomic forecast for the eurozone.

The regulator gives the same estimate of the average wholesale gas price for next year in a table to the forecast. It also states that the price for the current year will be €123, €98 for 2024 and up to €69 for 2025.

Compared to the previous, September forecast, the regulator has drastically reduced its estimates of the price of blue fuel, from 168 euros for the current year, 235 euros for next year and 165 euros for 2024. There was no estimate for 2025 in September.

Earlier, we reported that the risk of accelerating inflation in eurozone countries remains.