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Reuters
The spot price of gas in Europe rose on the first trading day this year to the $ 250 per thousand cubic meters mark.
This came against the backdrop of lower air temperatures, reduced gas flow from Russia, as well as liquefied gas via the sea.
The price of gas rose in the Dutch center TTF (contracts for the next day) for delivery on Tuesday, to 253.5 dollars per thousand cubic meters, after 243 dollars for the New Year holidays, and 244 dollars on Monday. This is the highest value in the last 23 months – as of January 25, 2019.
In December of last year, gas was traded at an average of 202 dollars, and in November – at 168 dollars per thousand cubic meters.
The start of 2021 in Europe is cooler than 2020, and the temperature forecast for the first half of January is much cooler than in the previous three winters.
Among the reasons for the high price of gas, one can mention the new mandatory restrictions imposed on “Gazprom” in the Ukrainian gas transportation corridor since the new year: 40 billion cubic meters (110 million cubic meters per day), up from 65 billion cubic meters (178 Million cubic meters per day) in 2020. And if in December 2020 “Gazprom” pumped about 183 million cubic meters per day through Ukraine, it started to pump an average of 125 million cubic meters per day (in the first three days).
The cold weather is forcing Europe to spend its underground gas reserves.
The flow of gas to the European pipeline network via LNG terminals in January 2021 was halved compared to January 2020. This may be the largest drop during the season (in October, supplies decreased by 30%, in November – by 39%, In December – 43%).
In addition to the lower air temperature, there is another reason for the increase in the price of gas – a noticeable decline in the contribution of wind electricity generation to total energy in Europe.
Source: Interfax
