Gas Buyers Seek End of Europe’s Two-Tier Pricing: Energy Markets
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The biggest difference between natural gas and crude oil prices in eight months is fanning calls by Europe’s largest power producers to scrap the almost 40-year-old system for setting their fuel costs.
E.ON AG, Germany’s biggest gas importer, asked suppliers last year to sell it fuel at spot-market rates rather than at prices tied to oil products, two people with knowledge of the matter said this week. GDF Suez SA, operator of Europe’s largest natural-gas network, said in September it was negotiating a stronger link to spot prices for long-term purchases. North Sea Brent crude costs $55 a barrel more than U.K. gas, the most since May 3, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.