Gas price keeps climbing in Europe as Brussels delays Russian supplies via Nord Stream 2

The price of natural gas in Europe exceeded an all-time high of $1,100 per 1,000 cubic meters on Thursday, trading data from the Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) shows.

The cost of November futures on the TTF hub in the Netherlands reached $1101 per 1,000 cubic meters in morning trading. This is nearly $106 per megawatt-hour in household terms. The overall rise in gas prices was about 5% by 8am GMT.

European gas prices exceeded $1,000 per 1,000 cubic meters for the first time in history on Monday. Analysts attribute rising costs to inadequate supplies held in Europe’s gas storage facilities to meet the post-pandemic increase in demand. The current energy crunch has already resulted in higher costs for consumers, while still far from the peak winter season, and forced some industries to curb production, threatening to stall the continent’s economic recovery. 

Russian experts recently warned that gas prices could surge further due to a number of factors, including demand in Asia, the weather in Europe with winter on the way, as well as the timing of the launch of Russia’s Nord Stream 2 pipeline.

Some view Nord Stream 2 as a means to stabilize the situation on the European energy market, with the pipeline capable of delivering the extra gas the continent needs. However, the project is still awaiting EU certification, which could take months due to bureaucratic setbacks and pressure from Washington and some Eastern European countries, which are opposed to increasing energy imports from Russia.

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