The decline on Thursday occurred despite the fact that the Jamal gas pipeline has been operating in reverse mode for the third day in a row, with gas flowing from Germany to Poland. It was the interruption of supplies through the Jamal gas pipeline to Germany that was behind the previous sharp rise in prices to record highs.
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According to traders, reports of several liquefied natural gas (LNG) shipments to Europe contributed to Thursday’s drop in prices. However, gas prices in Europe have continued to rise by more than 600 percent since the beginning of this year, Reuters reported.
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Russian brokerage firm Aton has warned that a significant drop in tensions in the European gas market cannot be expected any time soon: “The European gas crisis is intensifying. Despite the potential relief from the diversion of LNG shipments from Asia to Europe, we expect European gas prices to remain high, at least during the winter season. ”
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Putin: We’re not to blame
At a press conference on Thursday, Russian President Vladimir Putin dismissed as unfair criticism that record high gas prices in Europe were caused by Moscow.
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The president stressed that Gazprom must first meet its obligations to customers under long-term contracts before it can supply gas to immediate markets. According to him, countries with concluded long-term contracts, such as Germany, which pay much lower gas prices than the current market, thus benefit from this situation.
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According to Putin, the reverse flow of gas in Jamal suggests that Germany may resell gas to its neighbors. He believes that part of the Russian natural gas delivered to Germany eventually ended up in Ukraine.
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In connection with rising gas prices, Moscow has been accused of trying to force Germany and the European Union to speed up the operation of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline, which is to bring natural gas from Russia to Germany along the Baltic Sea floor, bypassing existing transit countries. such as Ukraine.
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