German utility Uniper has been obliged to borrow €10 billion ($US11.3 billion) to cover the costs of purchasing natural gas. This is the second time in less than six months that the company has had to borrow money for that reason, as reported by the Financial Times. €8 billion has come from Uniper’s majority shareholder, Finland’s Fortnum, while the remaining €2 billion was sourced from German bank KfW. Before Christmas, natural gas prices rose almost 100% to €180/MWh, creating very difficult operating conditions for utilities across the European continent. Uniper released a statement that said: “Higher commodity prices lead to temporarily higher margining requirements. At the same time, higher commodity prices increase the value of Uniper’s underlying gas and power assets. Therefore, Uniper’s structural earnings prospects are not adversely impacted by higher prices.”