Natural gas reached the fringes of 230 euros

LAST UPDATE 14:15

With a new strong jump, natural gas reached a breath from 230 euros today, with the pressures, however, de-escalating significantly afterwards and the prices falling back to the 200 euro area.

Specifically, the European one natural gas contract of August delivery is traded in the Netherlands (TTF) at 196 euros the megawatt hour with marginal losses now 1.9%.

Earlier, however, the price at the high of the day had reached up to 227 euros the megawatt hour with an increase exceeding 12%.

The flow of natural gas through Nord Stream was reduced today to 20% of the pipeline’s maximum capacity in the morning, as announced, heightening concerns about the risk of shortages in the coming winter.

At the same time, the Italian group Eni was informed by Gazprom that the flow of natural gas will be limited to 27 million cubic meters today, compared to 34 million in the last few days.

On Monday, Gazprom announced a doubling of daily deliveries via Nord Stream, citing a “maintenance operation on one turbine”.

A spokesman for the Kremlin said that Western sanctions were responsible for the reduction, which “if they didn’t exist, everything would have been done with the usual deadlines”, but the Europeans reject the technical reasons cited by Moscow and accuse it of using natural gas as an economic and political weapon.

For its part, after all, the European Union approved yesterday Tuesday an emergency plan for, in principle, a voluntary reduction of natural gas consumption in its 27 member countries by 15% in view of the energy-difficult winter to come, however granting the right for exceptions to various states depending on their special conditions and needs.

The plan will however become mandatory if Russia cuts off gas flows to the EU, creating an energy suffocation.

Ukraine’s state gas company Naftogaz has also called on its bondholders to “immediately” come to an agreement with it to delay payments to them amid Russia’s war of conquest against Ukraine.