Gas prices in Europe fell below $1,650 per thousand cubic meters

MOSCOW, 4 Oct — PRIME. Exchange gas prices in Europe at the opening of trading on Tuesday for the first time since July 21 fell below $1,650 per thousand cubic meters, losing a little more than 6% at the most, according to data from the London ICE exchange.

Futures contracts on the TTF index at the opening cost $1,618 per thousand cubic meters (-6.2%). As of 9:11 Moscow time, the cost of gas in Europe is $1,651.1 (-4.3%). The dynamics is based on the settlement price of the previous trading day – $1,725.3 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.

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.

The start of a special military operation and related 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, GasTerra 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 Yamal-Europe, have ceased, and the Ukrainian gas transmission system has significantly decreased.