Gas prices in Europe exceed $620 per thousand cubic meters for the first time in two years

The exchange gas prices in Europe exceeded $620 per thousand cubic meters for the first time since February 8, 2023, according to data from the London ICE Exchange. This was reported by RIA Novosti.

The March futures on the TTF index (Europe's largest hub, located in the Netherlands) opened trading at 10:00 Moscow time at $618 (+3.4%) per thousand cubic meters. And as of 11:03 Moscow time, their value was $620.7 (+3.8%). The dynamics of quotations is given from the estimated price of the previous trading day - $597.7 per thousand cubic meters.

The gas prices in the EU have gone up after the agreement on the transit of Russian gas to Europe via Ukraine expired. Zelensky rejected the possibility of extending this agreement even for purchases by third countries. As a result, Gazprom stopped pumping from 8:00 Moscow time on January 1, emphasizing that it had lost the technical and legal ability to do so.

Last year, the company supplied about 15 billion cubic meters of fuel via this route, which amounted to 4.5% of the total consumption in the EU.

Now the only source of Russian pipeline gas for Europeans is the Balkan Stream, which receives fuel from the Turkish Stream. Every year, about 14-15 billion cubic meters pass through it to Romania, Greece, North Macedonia, Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Hungary.

The average cost of gas futures on the European exchange last year was $386.5, which is 16.3% lower than the year before. Gas prices were significantly higher in 2021-2022. Such consistently high prices have not been seen in the entire history of gas hubs in Europe - since 1996. The quotations reached a historical record of $3,892 per thousand cubic meters in early spring 2022.