Gas prices in Europe approached $1,850 per thousand cubic meters

MOSCOW, 6 Oct — PRIME. Exchange prices for gas in Europe on Thursday morning grow by about 4% and are close to $1,850 per thousand cubic meters, according to the London ICE exchange.

On the eve of the news about the resumption of gas supplies from Russia to Italy, quotes fell below $1,600 per thousand cubic meters for the first time since the end of July, but closed trading near $1,800.

Trading on Thursday, futures contracts on the TTF index opened in positive territory, at around $1,802.6 per thousand cubic meters (+1.4%), then briefly went down and dropped to $1,747.1 (-1.7%), but soon returned to growth. As of 10:19 Moscow time, the price is at $1,847 (+3.9%). The dynamics is based on the estimated price of the previous trading day – $1,778 per thousand cubic meters.

The average settlement price of the nearest futures in September fell to $2,093 (-14.6%). In May, the figure was $1,030, in June it was almost $1,180 (+14.6% on a monthly basis), and in July it was about $1,805 (+53%). In August, the price slightly exceeded $2,450 (+35.7%), which was a record in the history of gas hubs in Europe since 1996.

International sanctions have affected the decline in Russian gas exports to Europe. Due to non-payment of gas under the new scheme in rubles, Gazprom stopped deliveries to Bulgargaz to Bulgaria, PGNiG to Poland, Gasum to Finland, Gas Terra to the Netherlands, as well as Shell Energy Europe to Germany and Orsted to Denmark. Deliveries along the main route, Nord Stream, as well as through Yamal-Europe, have ceased, and the Ukrainian gas transmission system has significantly decreased.

But back 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. The last explosive growth, at the end of August, was associated with the announcement of Gazprom about the suspension of the Nord Stream gas pipeline 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.