Exchange prices for gas in Europe fell following the results of trading on Thursday

MOSCOW, 22 Sep — PRIME. Exchange prices for gas in Europe by the close of trading on Thursday fell by 1.5% and amounted to 1912.8 dollars per thousand cubic meters, according to the London ICE exchange.

The nearest – October – futures (according to the index of the largest European hub TTF) opened trading at the level of 1921 dollars per thousand cubic meters (-1.1%). In the first half of the day, quotes were declining and around 9.14 Moscow time they reached a price low of 1839.2 (-5.3%) dollars. However, in the second half of the day they moved to growth, around 16.08 Moscow time the price maximum was reached in 2015.4 dollars (+3.7%). By evening, the quotes were falling again, the closing price was $1,912.8 (-1.5%). The dynamics of the cost is given from the settlement price on Tuesday – 1942.7 dollars per thousand cubic meters.

The average monthly settlement price of gas in Europe has been growing for the fourth month. The indicator in May was 1030 dollars, in June – almost 1180 dollars (+14.6% in monthly terms), and in July – about 1805 dollars (+53%). Already in August, the figure slightly exceeded $2,450 (+35.7%). And on August 26, the estimated price even reached a record $3,507 per thousand cubic meters.

Gas prices continue to be under pressure due to the uncertainty with supplies from Russia. Despite the decline in recent days, they are several times higher than last year’s levels, when prices were already record highs. The latest explosive growth at the end of August was associated with Gazprom’s announcement that the Nord Stream gas pipeline was suspended for three days for scheduled maintenance. Quotes jumped above 3500 dollars per thousand cubic meters and updated historical records of the settlement price several times.

In early September, Gazprom announced a complete shutdown of the pipeline due to an oil leak detected at the only operating unit, Trent 60. The downtime of the Nord Stream deprives Europe of up to 33 million cubic meters of gas per day, or about a billion cubic meters per month. Such losses are superimposed on the previous reduction in supplies from Russia via Nord Stream and other routes by at least 8-9 billion cubic meters per month.

In early March, gas prices in Europe, due to fears of a ban on the import of Russian energy resources, updated their historical highs for four days in a row. The price record of $3,892 per thousand cubic meters was reached on March 7.