Enel liquidity not affected by gas volatility

MILAN (Reuters) - Europe's biggest utility Enel has most of its gas needs covered by long-term contracts and price volatility has not affected its liquidity position, the company told Reuters.

Earlier on Wednesday German utility Uniper said it had secured credit facilities worth up to 10 billion euros ($11.3 billion) in a move to cope with unprecedented volatility in energy markets.

Wholesale and exchange-based commodity markets routinely require downpayments to cover operators' open liabilities.

In emailed comments, Enel said its long-term gas contracts were mainly indexed to Brent and the Henry Hub with residual needs covered on the spot market. Volumes for the winter were fully covered and its gas portfolio fully hedged, it said.

"Thanks to our hedging strategy, at the moment, liquidity has not been affected by gas price volatility," the Italian utility said.

At the end of September, Enel had 21.6 billion euros of available liquidity including cash and committed credit lines.

European gas prices have soared as economies recover from the pandemic and supplies remain tight, piling pressure on energy firms and consumers alike.

($1 = 0.8822 euros)

(Reporting by Stephen Jewkes; Editing by Alexandra Hudson)