The price of gas in Europe is rising (+ 5.4%), as Russia does not provide additional quantities

European gas prices are rising on Monday as Russia does not dramatically increase supply to the “energy-hungry” continent, according to Bloomberg.

Although Vladimir Putin had promised extra quantities, Russia’s Gazprom did not “close” extra space for gas supplies to Europe via Ukraine in December in a series of auctions on Monday, and did not commit additional space to pipeline flows through Belarus and Poland, end up in Germany.

The company still has the opportunity to close a new space in daily auctions, but its move is a blow to the European gas market, after months of limited Russian flows to much lower than usual levels in October.

The Dutch gas contract, which serves as a benchmark in Europe, rose 8.6% after the end of the auctions that showed the “dispositions” of the Russian energy giant.

European gas prices have more than tripled since the beginning of 2021, amid a squeeze in supply that has caused turmoil in the European market. Although Russian gas deliveries have recovered after a “dive” in early November, they remain well below last year’s levels.

Europe may not see higher deliveries from Russia until controversial pipeline is activated Nord Stream 2, which directly connects Russia with Germany, said Carlos Torres Diaz, vice president and head of gas and electricity market research at Rystad Energy, ahead of the auctions.

In another “sign” that foretells an upward movement in the price of gas, Gazprom decided not to offer a gas spot on the e-Sales Platform, for the third consecutive week. Temperatures in Europe are falling in the first – in essence – winter cold wave, while flows from Norway, the continent’s second-largest provider, are being hampered by power outages.

Norway’s giant Troll field will cut production by 28% from Tuesday for three days due to “compressor failure”, Gassco network administrator announced.

At 13.19 Greek time, the Dutch contract recorded an increase of 5.4%, to 79.80 euros per megawatt hour, while its British counterpart increased by 6.7%.