German consumers will have to put up with high gas prices for at least a year, after costs skyrocketed due to Russian supply cuts, Economy Minister Robert Habeck has said.
"We will still have to endure higher prices over the [next] year," Habeck told dpa. He was hoping prices would fall again by the end of 2023, when the necessary infrastructure to replace Russian gas supplies was scheduled to be completed, the minister said.
However even then he wasn't expecting prices to fall below 2021 levels, Habeck said.
In the course of the Russian war against Ukraine, gas supplies from Russia - which accounted for 55% of German consumption before the conflict - were completely stopped.
This led to a major drive by the German government to fill up the country's gas storage sites from other suppliers ahead of winter.
Berlin has also made strenuous efforts to diversify its gas supplies since a block imposed on imports from Russia and still-unexplained explosions on key pipelines in the Baltic Sea carrying gas to Europe. A new terminal for importing liquefied natural gas (LNG) was rapidly approved and constructed on Germany's North Sea coast.
The government also introduced a temporary cap on the price of natural gas, heating and electricity intended to relieve consumers and industry in the face of rapidly rising energy costs.
Habeck stressed the importance of further expanding gas infrastructure. "The prices are so high because half of the gas that Germany consumes has been cut off by [Russian President Vladimir] Putin's supply freeze, and we had no supply infrastructure apart from the pipelines," he said.
"If we manage to further expand at the current pace, then we will reconnect Germany to the world market," Habeck, referring to the construction of the LNG terminal, predicted. "And then we will also get world market prices that are significantly below what we have now."
