Europe Is Better Safe Than Sorry on Natural Gas
Replenishing stockpiles, however costly, beats gambling that energy costs will decline next winter.
Replenishing Europe’s gas stockpiles, however costly, beats betting that energy costs will decline by next winter.
Photographer: Matthias Kulka/The Image Bank RF/Getty Images
As the European energy crisis enters its fourth year, the region’s policymakers face a tough choice: Gamble on an improvement in gas supplies that will bring prices down meaningfully by next winter, or spend taxpayer money to replenish storage tanks this summer at currently elevated prices. The risks of getting it wrong and running low outweigh the cost of refilling inventories; hope isn’t a strategy.
The German government, for example, is mulling spending hundreds of millions of euros, perhaps even billions, to buy natural gas to restore the country’s energy cushion. It's a terrible choice to have to make, with pitfalls on both sides. But better safe than sorry should be the guiding mantra. Restocking the region’s gas reserves ahead of next winter is a form of insurance; you pay for the indemnity without expecting to make a claim. Otherwise, the continent will spend the next few months on a wing and a prayer.