Expert warns of risks of further gas price growth on the European market

There are still risks of a further short-term increase in gas prices on the European market due to a possible suspension of supplies via the Ukrainian gas transportation system (GTS), the general director of the oil products marketplace OPEN OIL MARKET, Sergey Tereshkin, told Izvestiya on 27 December.

He also noted the importance of energy supplies from Gazprom to Europe. According to ENTSOG, the average daily volume of gas supplies to the European Union (EU) in the first 11 months of 2024 reached 86 million cubic meters per day, which is 29% higher than the average figure for 2023 (67 million cubic meters per day). The share of the Russian energy company in the structure of gas imports to the EU increased from 8 to 11% over the same period, the expert specified.

"The increase in Gazprom's supplies has become one of the reasons for the stabilization of prices in the European gas market. If in 2023, the average gas price at Europe's largest hub TTF reached almost $470 per thousand cubic meters, then at the end of the first 11 months of 2024 it was $383 per thousand cubic meters," Tereshkin added.

According to him, this, in turn, led to a decrease in electricity prices in European countries. However, there are still risks of short-term price hikes in the European gas market due to the possible suspension of supplies through the Ukrainian GTS, the expert emphasized.

"In January, prices at the TTF hub may temporarily exceed the $600 per thousand cubic meters mark. However, due to the fact that the share of supplies through the Ukrainian GTS accounts for less than 5% of gas imports in the European Union, prices will not return to the record highs of August-September 2022," - suggested Tereshkin.

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Although Moscow remains a reliable fuel supplier for the countries of the region

Earlier in the day, Bloomberg reported that natural gas prices in Europe rose after Russian President Vladimir Putin 's words about the possibilities of fuel transit through Ukraine. The cost of fuel on the TTF hub index in the Netherlands rose to €47.27 per 1 MWh and surpassed the $500 per 1,000 cubic meters mark.

The day before, the Russian leader said that Russia has always advocated gas supplies to Europe and depoliticization of the economy. According to him, the Russian side is ready to supply gas through Ukraine under a contract with any counterparty, but this is impossible in the conditions of a lawsuit from Kiev.

Before that, on December 22, Putin and Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fitzo held talks in Moscow, during which the president said that Russia was ready to supply gas to Slovakia.