Natural gas on the European market is getting more expensive again after a few calmer days. A tonne of natural gas was trading at 185 euros at one point on Tuesday. The price of the raw material thus surpassed the previous record set last December.
Tuesday’s dramatic increase in the price of natural gas has no fundamental causes, according to experts. It is simply a fear that the West, led by the European Union, might intensify sanctions against Russia over its invasion of Ukraine. “The main driver of the price rise is the growing risk that the European Union could target Russian energy commodity exports with sanctions,” Leon Izbicky, an analyst at consultancy Energy Aspects, told Reuters.
Natural gas from Russia
Despite the ongoing war in Ukraine, the volume of natural gas flowing from Russia to Europe has not changed. Gas even flows to the West through pipelines that run through Ukraine.
Situation on the European market
This was confirmed by the Slovak side on the basis of data on the volume of natural gas passing through the terminal in Velke Kapušany. But traders fear that sanctions against Russia could escalate and radically change the situation on the European gas market.
