The European Commission Friday invited reliable international gas suppliers to submit offers under the second EU joint gas purchasing tender.

This tender runs from 7 July to 10 July. It covers 15.92 billion cubic meters (bcm) of gas deliveries requested by 49 companies for the period from August 2023 to March 2025. Almost half of this aggregated demand is for liquefied natural gas, it said in a press release.

European Commission Vice-President Maro Sefcovic said: "With even higher levels of gas demand pooled together, it is clear that European companies are increasingly confident in the effectiveness of the EU Energy Platform to help them meet their needs." It is fast becoming an established marketplace and an effective tool to tackle the energy crisis triggered by Russia's war against Ukraine.

The joint EU purchasing of gas supports the REPowerEU Plan to diversify energy supply away from Russia and strengthen security of supply ahead of next winter.

Three further tenders will follow by the end of 2023.

Source: Kuwait News Agency