Europe’s Gas Crunch Shows Little Sign of Easing

Nov 23, 2021

Europe's Gas Crunch Shows Little Sign of Easing

This winter, consumers in the European Union and the United Kingdom may face even higher gas prices as Russian gas flows via main transit routes prove to be too little, too late.

The new Nord Stream 2 pipeline connecting Russia and Europe may have helped to loosen up a tight market. However, it has been subjected to further delays as German certification has been halted, owing to resistance to the project from the US and certain Europeans.

Several European and British energy suppliers have gone out of business as a result of this year's power price shock, as they are unable to constantly pass on price increases to customers. Bulb, which had a 6% domestic market share, was the most recent to go bankrupt.

High electricity costs have pushed some energy-intensive companies to cut back on production, and European consumers are already paying more for home heating as winter approaches, adding to inflationary pressures.

Benchmark European gas prices had risen by as much as 700 percent by October, while British prices had risen by about 500 percent, as global economies recovered from the pandemic and sucked in gas, notably from Asia, but European stockpiles remained low.

On Monday, European gas had risen more than 300 percent this year, while the British standard had risen almost 250 percent.

Prices fell when Russian President Vladimir Putin announced in October that the country will increase gas supplies to record levels, easing fears of supply shortages.

However, flows via key pipelines such as Yamal, which goes from Russia to Germany via Belarus and Poland, have not increased as much as expected, and no additional capacity has been booked at auction on other routes, including those through Ukraine.

"Given how short the market is and limited Russian flows, I wouldn't rule out a rebound to October's record highs," Refinitiv analyst Wayne Bryan said.

Gazprom, the state-owned company with a monopoly on pipeline gas exports from Russia, claims to be honoring all of its long-term contracts. Contractual requirements had been met, according to European companies contacted by Reuters.

However, supplies to the spot market, which many residential gas providers rely on, remain scarce.

Daily flows across the three main routes from Russia to Europe, namely the Yamal route, Nord Stream 1 which runs directly to Germany, and the pipeline network crossing Ukraine, were little changed from a year earlier in September, October, and so far in November, according to Refinitiv Eikon data.

Cold Snap Fears

Volumes are marginally higher than the norm for November 2020, when economic shutdowns due to the pandemic curtailed demand, but 40% lower than November 2019.

Renewables, such as wind and solar, which account for an increasing share of European power supplies, are not guaranteed to be able to fill the gap in energy supply required to reduce demand for gas-fired generation.

"We could see insane pricing again if flows don't start up and there's a cold spell with low wind speeds. We are surviving on our wits "According to a gas broker.

The postponement of Nord Stream 2's certification adds to market worries as demand climbs during Europe's major heating season, which runs from October 1 to March 31.

After the German certification is obtained, the project must still be approved by the European Commission. It will have two months to complete this task.

According to Energy Aspects analyst Trevor Sikorski, this might mean the project will not commence commercial gas flows before the third quarter.

"It raises concerns about peak supply, which means we might see very high prices and gas supply interruptions to industry, especially if there are a number of cold spells that make the winter colder than usual," he said.

Gas stocks in Europe are still significantly below normal. On Nov. 17, Gazprom-controlled storage stations in northwest Europe held roughly 41 terawatt-hours (TWh), according to Refinitiv Eikon data. For the same day in 2017-2020, the average number was 113 TWh.

"Injections to Gazprom-controlled storage in Europe have averaged only 5 million cubic meters per day since November 9," said James Huckstepp, manager EMEA gas analytics at S&P Global Platts.

Liquefied natural gas (LNG) supplies have been sucked in by Asian countries, raising LNG shipping prices and complicating Europe's efforts to restore inventories.

Subscribe Our Newsletter

Boeing Stock Prediction Is Gloomy. After The Supplier Reports a Problem Affecting Several 737s, it Falls.

Milena

Boeing Stock Prediction Is Gloomy. After The Supplier Reports a Problem Affecting Several 737s, it Falls.

Boeing stock prediction is pretty gloomy due to Spirit AeroSystems shares having taken a greater fall, despite the fact that the Boeing supplier has stated that the 737 problem would have no substantial impact on their delivery range.

Stocks
TikTok Plans Big Push into Gaming, Conducting Tests in Vietnam
TikTok Plans Big Push into Gaming, Conducting Tests in Vietnam

According to the sources, TikTok, which is owned by ByteDance of China, plans to expand its gaming offerings in Southeast Asia. Two of the sources said the move could happen as soon as the third quarter.

Companies
B2BROKER Liquidity B2BROKER Liquidity
Sponsored
Hazem

The Cup and Handle Pattern – How Trade Using This Bullish Indicator?
The Cup and Handle pattern is a common chart option for locating price breakouts in bullish markets. You can use it to predict uptrends following this guide.

discover
AI Agent Explained

Alex

What Is an AI Agent? The Future of Finance Explained

In April, Norway’s $1.8 trillion sovereign wealth fund announced plans to save $400 million annually by integrating AI into its trading operations. That statement sends a clear message to the financial community: AI agents are the strategy of the future. But what exactly is an AI agent? And how does it differ from a simple […]

Trading
Contact us bg

Contact Us

Contact the Liquidity Provider
for any questions and advertising inquiries

    Please fill out this contact form to get in touch with us

    / 3000

    By clicking “Get in touch” button, you agree to the privacy policy

    Successful!
    Thank you for your request.
    We will contact you shortly.
    Close

    Hazem

    Grok vs ChatGPT: What’s the Best AI Assistant You Need in 2025

    Grok vs ChatGPT

    Сonstantine

    How to Choose the Right Liquidity Provider for Your Brokerage

    How to Choose the Right Liquidity Provider for Your Brokerage

    Сonstantine

    Low-Latency Trading Defined: Speed, Strategy and Technology

    Low-Latency Trading Explained

    Hazem

    How Liquidity Depth Affects Slippage in High-Volume Trading

    Liquidity depth and slippage in trading

    Hazem

    What is FIX API Liquidity Connection and How Does it Power Institutional Trading?

    FIX API in institutional trading

    Сonstantine

    OTC Trading Strategies and Technologies to Succeed in Over-the-Counter Markets

    OTC Trading Strategies

    Alexander

    What is OTC Trading? A Complete Guide for 2025

    what is OTC

    Alexander

    Synthetic Futures: A Trader’s Guide to Replicating Positions with Options

    How to Trade Synthetic Futures

    Сonstantine

    Order Book Depth: What It Is And Why It Matters?

    Order Book Depth What It is And Why It Matters

    Alexander

    Spot vs Perpetual Futures: Which Is Right for You?

    Spot vs Perpetual Futures explained

    Hazem

    5 Reasons Traders Are Switching to Perpetual Futures

    5 Reasons to Switch to Perpetual Futures

    Constantine

    Top 3 Liquidity Challenges Facing New Exchanges and How to Solve Them

    Top 3 Liquidity Challenges Facing New Exchanges Today

    Constantine

    Financial Planning in the Cryptocurrency Era — Master Crypto and Digital Asset Strategies

    Financial Planning in the Cryptocurrency Era

    Hazem

    Best Platforms to Trade Perpetual Futures in 2025

    Best platforms to trade perpetual futures in 2025

    Alex

    Top 10 Fintech Website Development Agencies for 2025

    Best Fintech Website Development Agencies for 2025

    Сonstantine

    Internal vs External Range Liquidity In ICT Trading Explained

    Internal vs External Range Liquidity In ICT Trading

    Constantine

    Portfolio Backtesting — Tools, Metrics, and Methods Explained

    Portfolio Backtesting

    Сonstantine

    ICT Trading Explained: Smart Money Concepts, Tools and Setups

    ICT Trading Explained

    Сonstantine

    CFD Trading Strategies: A Practical Guide to Risk and Execution

    CFD Trading Strategies

    Alexander

    What is a Fair Value Gap? A Guide to Trading Market Imbalances

    What is Fair Value Gap

    Vitaliy

    Triangle Patterns in Trading: Mastering Ascending, Descending & Symmetrical Strategies for Maximum Profit

    Triangle Patterns in Trading: Ascending, Descending & Symmetrical Guide

    Alexander

    What Is COTI? Payments, Token & Price Prediction

    What is a COTI coin

    Constantine

    Best Copy Trading Software in 2025

    Best Copy Trading Software in 2025

    Alex

    What Is an AI Agent? The Future of Finance Explained

    AI Agent Explained
    liquidity-provider-logo
    • News
      • Stock Market Forecast
      • Stocks
      • Banks and Finance
      • Companies
      • Crypto
      • Forex
      • AI
      • Technology
      • DeFi
      • NFT
    • Articles
      • Crypto Payments
      • Trading
      • Crypto Exchange Business
      • Forex Business
      • Fintech
      • Liquidity
      • FinTech Awards
      • Blockchain
      • Investing
      • NFT
      • DeFi
    • More
      • Videos
      • Liquidity Providers List
      • Crypto Payment Providers
      • White Label Brokerage Platforms
      • Broker CRM Platforms
    [email protected]

    © 2024 Liquidity Provider. All Rights Reserved

    Privacy Policy Cookie Policy
    This site is registered on wpml.org as a development site. Switch to a production site key to remove this banner.