Under the plan, households will benefit from the cap covering 80 percent of their usage from March next year to April 2024, said the expert commission.

European Union countries will seek a November deal on more emergency measures to tackle high gas prices, officials said, although countries still disagree on what form those measures would take and whether they should cap gas prices.

Oil prices slipped on Monday, easing off five-week highs, as the market took profits following strong gains last week on expectations of tighter supplies following OPEC+ cuts and ahead of the European Union embargo on Russian oil.

EU leaders meeting in Prague on Friday looked to bridge divisions on how to tackle soaring energy prices as they grapple with the fallout from Russia's war on Ukraine.

European Union leaders will lock horns on Friday over whether and how to cap gas prices, as they attempt to curb a surge in energy prices that threatens to push the 27-nation bloc into recession and disrupt the EU's cherished single market.

Dreamt up in the 1960s to attract tourists, Spain's three-course "menu del dia", or set lunch menu, has long been seen as the best deal in town.

The Norwegian government expects record income next year from its oil and gas industry, it said on Thursday, predicting a rise of 18% from this year's level and a fivefold increase over 2021 as production rises and prices soar.

Equity markets mostly fell Thursday and the pound retreated once more against the dollar on lingering recession fears despite hopes that the US Federal Reserve will tame the pace of aggressive interest rate hikes.

The Bank of Spain on Wednesday significantly cut its GDP growth forecast for next year due to the impact of higher energy prices in Europe and lower consumer spending.

Europe may limp through the cold winter months with the help of brimming natural gas tanks despite a plunge in deliveries from former top supplier Russia only to enter a deeper energy crisis next year, the head of the International Energy Agency said.

Exxon Mobil Corp on Tuesday signaled strong third quarter operating profits on the heels of the second quarter's all time high as earnings from high natural gas offset weaker refining and chemicals, according to a securities filing.

OPEC+ looks set for deep oil output cuts when it meets on Wednesday, curbing supply in an already tight market despite pressure from the United States and other consuming countries to pump more.

The head of the European Union's powerful lending arm has urged leaders not to backslide on climate targets amid the energy crisis and signalled a joint action plan from the world's top development banks at next month's COP 27 summit and on Ukraine.

OPEC+ producers look set to cut output when they meet on Wednesday, squeezing supply in an oil market that energy company executives and analysts say is already tight due to healthy demand, lack of investment and supply problems.

Police in Haiti fired tear gas on Monday at thousands of protesters marching in the streets of the capital, Port-au-Prince, against Prime Minister Ariel Henry's government and its handling of crippling fuel shortages and soaring prices.

Britain must be careful not to spook investors with its energy reforms so it can continue attracting funds for its transition to a cleaner future, the CEO of renewables and networks company SSE said on Monday.

Italy's economy probably shrank in the third quarter and will keep contracting until mid-2023, according to Treasury forecasts that will make grim reading for Giorgia Meloni, the rightist leader expected to be named prime minister this month.

Sweden sent a diving vessel on Monday to the site of Russian gas pipelines in the Baltic Sea that ruptured last week following blasts in the area, to probe an incident that has added new tension to Europe's energy crisis.

Global gas markets are expected to remain tight next year as Russian pipeline gas supplies dwindle and gas demand falls in Europe in response to energy saving measures and high prices, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said on Monday.

European Union countries agreed on Friday to impose emergency levies on energy firms' windfall profits, and began talks on their next move to tackle Europe's energy crunch - possibly a bloc-wide gas price cap.

Eurozone consumer prices skyrocketed by a record 10 percent in September, official data showed on Friday.

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday blamed the United States and its allies for blowing up the undersea Nord Stream pipelines, raising the temperature in a crisis that has left Europe racing to secure its energy infrastructure and supplies.

European Union countries are poised to approve a package of emergency measures including windfall profit levies on energy companies on Friday, at a meeting where states will also lock horns over whether to cap gas prices.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz set out a 200 billion euro ($194 billion) "defensive shield" on Thursday to protect companies and consumers against the impact of soaring energy prices.

The EU on Friday will seek urgent ways to bring down skyrocketing energy prices as winter looms.

Nigeria has failed to capitalise on an oil price boom that has helped cushion other exporters from the impact of inflation, with millions more Nigerians now facing poverty.

Spanish prices rose 9.3% in the 12 months to September, National Statistics Institute data showed on Thursday, a fall of more than 1 percentage point, thanks to a public transportation price cut and an electricity price slowdown.

Fourth leak detected at Russian gas pipeline to Europe

The BoE intervention followed criticism Tuesday from the IMF, which argued that Britain's budget could increase inequality and worsen inflation.

European Union countries were at odds on Wednesday over whether to cap gas prices in the bloc, with France, Belgium and 13 other states stepping up their call for the move opposed by Germany and others.