Compressor station MOSCOW, Jan 14Gas futures prices in Europe on Friday, after active growth in the first half of the day, fell to just below $1,000 per thousand cubic meters, according to the London ICE exchange. The cost of the nearest futures on the Dutch TTF index at the opening of trading was $1,084. In the first half hour of trading, prices jumped by about 12%, exceeding the $1,100 mark. However, then the growth slowed down somewhat, and by the end of trading, prices turned negative. The high was $1,131 and the low was a close of $984, down 2.3% from Thursday's settlement price.Novak said that Russia is not to blame for the energy crisis in Europe Gas prices in Europe on December 21 reached a historic high of $2,190.4 per thousand cubic meters, after which they moved to a corrective decline. The estimated price of January futures in the last days of last year fell by half — to $1,020 on December 30. A noticeable increase in gas prices in Europe began in spring, when the average spot price on the TTF index fluctuated in the range of $250-300 per thousand cubic meters. In the last days of summer, the value of a contract with a «day ahead» delivery exceeded $600, and in early October it crossed the threshold of $1,000. In December, quotes have already doubled. There have been no such persistently high prices in Europe since 1996 in the history of operation of gas hubs. Experts attributed the increase in prices to several factors: the low level of occupancy of European underground storage facilities (after a long cold winter and hot summer), limited supply from major suppliers and high demand for liquefied natural gas (LNG) in Asia. Market sentiment is also influenced by the weather factor and uncertainty over the launch of Nord Stream 2. Both lines of the pipeline are filled with technical gas, and it is ready for operation, however, as expected, it will not be launched until the second half of the year. a powerful inflationary factor
