Bild: tanker shortage threatens to derail Berlin's compressed natural gas supply plans

According to Bild, there are no gas carriers in the German merchant fleet, which are needed to transport LNG over long distances. In total, about 500 such vessels are available in the world, but demand from other regions is also high. According to Andreas Fischer, an expert at the Institute for German Economics, LNG volumes "must be available on the world market, this requires tankers, most of which are already tied to long-term contracts".

At the same time, the opposition Christian Democratic Union is confident that the plans of the German authorities have failed, Berlin will not be able to replace the amount of gas that is needed in the coming winter. Union spokesman Torsten Frei is convinced that Habek's strategy has not worked. He urged to do everything possible to fill the gas storages. According to the head of the land group of the Christian Social Union, Alexander Dobrindt, it is necessary to form a new pricing model for citizens to establish a fixed base price for fuel.

Note that due to the reduction in natural gas supplies from Russia, electricity prices in Europe are breaking records. So, in France and Germany, prices per MWh of base load for 2023 reached values of €366 and €325, respectively — the reason for the increase in electricity prices is the reduction in Russian gas supplies.