The German energy company Uniper, serving the partner of Gazprom, skeptically assesses the statements that Russia restrains the supply of gas to Europe. The appropriate assessment in the conversation with Bloomberg gave the commercial director of the company Nick Den Hollander, thus standing up for the Russian gas giant, which in the European Union (EU) is accused of provoking the increase in gas prices.
The cost of gas in Europe in recent weeks beats records, in the middle of the month it approached the mark $ 1,000 per thousand cubic meters. The rise in price supports including low levels of reserves in gas storages. By the time of writing news, the cost of October futures on the TTF index was about $ 900 per thousand cubic meters. On September 17, the deputies of the European Parliament sent a letter to the European Commission with a call to begin investigation against Gazprom, since a sharp rise in price of gas, in their opinion, could be caused by the company’s actions.
Gazprom currently needs to be replenished with its own stocks in the domestic market, Didier Ollo emphasized, Executive Vice-President of the French company Engie SA, also collaborating with the Russian gas giant. For this reason, the Russian company cannot significantly increase exports, he added. On the subject of the current high prices for gas while you can “do little,” a representative of the French enterprise believes. “We hope that the beginning of winter in the northern hemisphere will not be too cold. Otherwise we have problems,” Ollo commented on.
Gazprom, reacting to the appeal of parliamentarians, previously stated that gas supplies fully comply with consumer applications and contracts. It is also noted that the supplier as far as possible seeks to cover and additional demand. The company also stressed that in eight and a half months of 2021 Gazprom increased gas exports to foreign countries to 138.6 billion cubic meters.
At the same time, the situation with gas reserves in Europe is such that, according to the senior adviser to US President’s Energy Safety, Amosh Hochstein, the region does not have enough fuel even for heating, and not just for generating electricity.