Miller predicted the long-term nature of high gas prices in Europe

The persistence of high gas prices in Europe has a long-term character against the background of low occupancy of gas storage facilities and the approach of winter. Alexey Miller, Chairman of the Gazprom Management Committee, announced this on October 17 on the sidelines of the Russian Energy Week (REN-2026).

"The occupancy rate of European gas storage facilities is at an anti—record level for mid-October - 74.1%. This follows from the data from Gas Infrastructure Europe. EU countries have less and less time to prepare for winter," the Gazprom Telegram channel quoted Miller as saying.

He noted that Europe is already switching from the summer mode of operation of underground gas storage facilities (UGS) to the winter mode. This is indicated by a decrease in the volume of injection and an increase in gas extraction. According to Gas Infrastructure Europe data for October 1-14, on some days, net sampling, in which sampling exceeds injection, was observed in Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Poland, Slovakia, Croatia and the Czech Republic.

"Thus, the EU countries continue to confidently set historical records in the gas sector, and the trend towards maintaining high prices on the European gas market has a long—term character," Miller stressed.

He also stated that foreign experts underestimate the factors affecting the cost of gas in Europe, including the depth of their impact and the time lag. According to him, a month and a half ago, analysts predicted October prices in the range of $ 800-900, but in fact they reached $ 1.1 thousand.

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Former Austrian Foreign Minister Karin Kneissl, in a conversation with Izvestia correspondent Anton Zolotnitsky on October 16, said that European countries had driven themselves into an energy trap by refusing to cooperate with Russia. She noted that decisions in the energy sector in the West are often made under the influence of ideological attitudes rather than practical considerations.

On October 12, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak announced that Russia supplied energy resources worth $21.3 billion to Europe in January-September 2026. Since 2022, their total value has reached $320.7 billion. He also noted that the structure of Russian exports to the European Union has changed significantly in recent years.