All over Europe, private consumers, energy groups and industries are worried about the skyrocketing gas prices.

Nowhere is the gas crisis having such consequences as on the British Isles.

There it is feared that dozens of energy providers will find themselves in financial distress in the coming weeks because they can no longer handle the high gas purchasing costs.

The first have already filed for bankruptcy.

Because of the extremely expensive natural gas, individual industrial and agricultural companies have also closed, including the country's largest fertilizer manufacturer.

In an indirect chain reaction, this threatens the poultry and meat industries as well as supermarkets.

Philip Plickert

Business correspondent based in London.

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Economy Minister Kwasi Kwarteng held several crisis talks with the energy industry and the Ofgem supervisory authority over the weekend. On Monday he met the heads of the largest gas and electricity suppliers. These are calling for a government aid package worth billions. In addition, the government should set up a "bad bank" as a rescue institution for insolvent energy companies. This should help to continue to supply affected customers with gas and electricity in autumn and winter. Prime Minister Boris Johnson spoke about the domestic gas crisis on his trip to America and promised that the government would "do everything it can" to avoid the collapse of energy companies.

The association OGUK, which represents the British oil and gas industry, refers to the rapidly increasing wholesale price for natural gas in Europe. It has almost tripled since the beginning of 2021 and has increased by 70 percent since August alone. On Monday, the UK wholesale price jumped another 9 percent. Five smaller energy suppliers with hundreds of thousands of customers have already gone bankrupt since August and left the market. The “green” provider Bulb, which supplies more than 1.5 million customers, has also got into trouble and is negotiating emergency financing with its banks. There are warnings from the industry that only 10 of 55 energy companies could be left by Christmas.

The energy suppliers have agreed a fixed tariff for the gas price with their customers. If your purchasing costs rise surprisingly sharply, you cannot pass them on to the customers immediately. Ofgem recently approved a price increase from October 1 of £ 139 to a maximum of £ 1,277. This affects 15 million households with regulated contracts.

There are several reasons for the rise in gas prices around the world.

The stores in most countries are very low.

As the economy recovered after the Corona slump, demand for raw materials has increased and prices have risen.

Added to this is the increased demand for gas in Asia, especially China, which has been relying more on gas-fired power plants for some time.

China is increasingly purchasing liquid gas.

And some oil and gas producers are currently producing less because of maintenance work on drilling rigs and pipelines.

85 percent heat with natural gas

In the UK, 23 million households, 85 percent of the total population, heat their homes with natural gas. 40 percent of the electricity is generated in gas-fired power plants. The country has been one of the major natural gas importers in Europe since the supply of its own North Sea natural gas has been shrinking. According to OGUK, the country imported 56 percent of its gas requirements last winter. Most of it comes from Norway, smaller amounts of liquefied gas from the USA and supplies from Russia from Gazprom.

The gas price crisis also has indirect consequences that consumers would hardly expect. This includes the calls for help from the poultry industry. Ranjit Boparan, owner of 2 Sisters Food Group, the UK's largest chicken and turkey farm, warned over the weekend that the poultry industry was "on the verge of breaking up". The reason for this is the lack of carbon dioxide (CO2), which is a waste product in the manufacture of fertilizers. Since a major percent of fertilizer in the north of England temporarily stopped its production because of the expensive gas, there has been a lack of large amounts of CO2, which the meat industry uses to stun animals before slaughtering and packaging. As a result, tens of thousands of turkeys, the traditional Christmas roast, could soon be missing. "Without a CO2 supply, Christmas will be canceled," said Boparan boldly.In addition, supermarkets are desperately looking for CO2, which is needed for dry ice in cooling systems.

Other Britons worry about sitting in cold apartments in winter if their gas supplier goes bankrupt and stops delivering. Economy Minister Kwarteng tried to calm down the citizens on Monday. "Our priority is to protect consumers." The Ofgem supervisory authority can appoint special administrators for insolvent suppliers to ensure further supplies. State-guaranteed emergency loans are also conceivable. Temporary subsidies are being discussed for the factories of the fertilizer company CF Industries in the north of England.