Wholesale natural gas prices have reached the shocking level of about 180 pence a therm in the UK.

The previous peak was to about 80 pence a therm, and was only for a few days.
This peak is much higher and has already lasted for a couple of months.

Discussion as to he reasons for this increase could lead us into forbidden p0litical areas, but it is an observed fact that the increase has occurred.

Prices are broadly similar in most of Europe.

A lot of UK electricity is produced from natural gas, resulting in huge increases in wholesale electricity costs.

Fertilizer production was halted as the high gas price rendered it uneconomic, this in turn affected carbon dioxide supplies as this is a by product of fertilizer manufacture.
This in turn affected some food supplies as carbon dioxide is used to stun animals for humane killing, and is also used in food packaging.

The UK government have now given emergency funding to fertilizer factories to resume production that would otherwise be loss making.

A number of retailers of domestic natural gas and electricity have gone bust as they retailing energy at half the wholesale cost.

Regulations have prevented the present high wholesale costs being passed on to retail customers, but this cant carry on forever.

All a bit worrying, not directly for myself as I have no natural gas and use very little electricity. I worry about the effect on wider society though.