Competition in the German gas market has been intensified by legislators, regulators and the cartel office.
PA Consulting Group has conducted another survey on 'Competiton in the gas market' which shows that competition indeed has increased during the last years. The reason for this is the large number of new providers. Traditional pre-suppliers have to position themselves against the new providers in order to compensate for market share losses. Transmission system operators are the winners in the struggle to win end-customers.
Another effect of the intensified competition is the disentanglement of the oil price fixing. More than half of the companies questioned have uncoupled their prices for natural gas from the oil price fixing.
The results of the study indicate that the companies participating in the survey are under public and/or competitive pressure and that a rise in prices cannot be passed on in full to the client. In comparison to last year’s results the interviewees assess the legal framework conditions more positively. Their expectations for loss of customers (in their own supply area) and the returns (on new geographical markets) indicate an intensification of competition for end-customers. The study shows that the framework conditions for gas-to-gas-competition could still be improved.
