These could increase by 60 percent to more than 4,000 dollars (3,923 euros) per 1,000 cubic meters, as the company announced in Moscow on Tuesday. The reason for this is that exports and production continued to shrink due to western sanctions over the Ukraine war. “European spot gas prices have reached $2,500 (per 1,000 cubic meters),” Gazprom said. “Based on conservative estimates, if this trend continues, prices will exceed $4,000 per 1,000 cubic meters this winter.”
Ukraine has closed one of Gazprom’s routes for deliveries to Europe. The group itself reduced its capacity of the Nord Stream 1 Baltic Sea pipeline to Germany to around 20 percent in a dispute over a gas turbine belonging to the German company Siemens Energy, which is responsible for maintenance.
Exports collapsed by 36 percent
Overall, Gazprom’s gas exports fell by 36.2 percent to 78.5 billion cubic meters between January 1 and August 15. At the same time, production fell by 13.2 percent to 274.8 billion cubic meters, the company said. In August alone, production has fallen 32.2 percent so far, after 35.8 percent in July, said economist Yevgeny Suvorov of CentroCreditBank. The decline in exports accelerated to 59 percent.
Dutch wholesale gas prices reached a record high of almost 335 euros per megawatt hour (MWh) in spring. They have since fallen to around $250, data on Tuesday showed. However, they are still far higher than a year ago, when they were around 46 euros per MWh. In Germany and many other European countries, high energy prices are fueling inflation. According to experts, the German inflation rate could even reach double-digit values in autumn.
Source: Nachrichten
