Still no need for Nord Stream 2? European gas prices hit decade high due to shortage of supply

The price of natural gas on the European market has been skyrocketing, hitting yet another record in Tuesday trading, according to the ICE exchange.

The price of the October futures on the TTF hub in the Netherlands on September 14 surpassed $800 per 1,000 cubic meters, or 65.50 euro per megawatt-hour in household terms.

Gaining over $70 per 1,000 cubic meters in just one day, the price of gas in Europe is now at its highest in at least the last decade.

Experts interviewed by TASS warned that although the current surge in the commodity price in Europe is abnormal and volatile, new records are more than possible given the low storage volumes and the fast-approaching winter. Gas prices may even reach $1000 per thousand cubic meters, but the situation will depend on a number of factors, including the rising gas price on the market in Asia and the weather, experts note.

Russia could save the day for the European energy market once it launches gas deliveries via the newly completed Nord Stream 2 pipeline, Dmitry Marinchenko, group director for natural resources and commodities at Fitch rating agency told TASS. 

“At the moment, the launch of Nord Stream 2 can increase the supply of gas,” he said. And, apparently, the supply increase is needed, as the daily capacity of gas supplies through the two strings of Nord Stream 2 is comparable to the entire volume of liquefied gas that is now supplied to Europe, according to Alexey Grivach, deputy head of Russia’s Energy Security Fund.

Earlier this month, Gazprom said that the construction of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline was fully completed. It is planned to be commissioned by the end of 2021, right after all the required certification is obtained.

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