Publication

Competition in the German gas market is accelerating

Survey 2008

The Bundesnetzagentur has improved the framework conditions to intensify competition in the German gas market. This study conducted by PA Consulting Group shows that the competition for end-customers has increasingly intensified. One reason for this can be seen in the emergence of new suppliers which have gained in importance as pre-suppliers for regional suppliers and public services. As a matter of fact this development has been advantageous for the latter because of improved purchasing conditions.

Half of the suppliers closed contracts with the newly emerged pre-suppliers, but traditional suppliers still play an important role because the majority of suppliers have contracts with both of them.

Thomas Pockrandt (PA Consulting Group) sees in the long term a disentanglement of the oil price fixing and therefore intensified competition.

In the competition for end-customers transmission system operators are the winners. Many of the regional suppliers and the public services have lost a vast number of customers to them. The majority of the suppliers interviewed plan to enter new geographical markets in order to compensate for client losses in their traditional supply areas. They expect to increase sales volume by about 10 percent.

The study also shows that suppliers are under huge competitive pressure and that they therefore cannot pass on their higher buying costs to the customers.