Compressor stationMOSCOW, Mar 7Gas futures prices in Europe on Monday, after reaching a record $3,892 per thousand cubic meters, lost more than $1,300 by the close of the trading session, falling to almost $2,550 per thousand cubic meters, according to data from the London ICE exchange. at the opening of trading amounted to 2366.8 dollars per thousand cubic meters and from the first minutes showed a steady increase. Quotes rose by about $1,500 in an hour and a half. The price maximum was reached at 11.30 Moscow time and amounted to 3892 dollars per thousand cubic meters. This is 79% higher than Friday's estimated price of $2,170.2.Kerry explained what the «price» would be to pay due to sanctions against Russia, but then prices lost about $1,000 in an hour and fell to $2,900. Then the quotes slowed down and by the close of trading dropped to almost $2,550, which is 17.9% higher than the settlement price of the previous trading day. The cost of gas in Europe has shown strong volatility in recent days. They rose after Russian President Vladimir Putin on February 21 signed decrees recognizing the sovereignty of the Donetsk and Luhansk People's Republics, and on February 24 Russia launched a special military operation against Ukraine. But a noticeable increase in gas prices in Europe began last spring, when the average The spot price on the TTF hub index fluctuated in the range of $250-$300 per thousand cubic meters. At the end of summer, the value of a contract with a day-ahead delivery exceeded $600, and in early October it was already $1,000. Experts attributed this price increase to several factors: high demand for liquefied natural gas (LNG) in Asia, major suppliers and low levels of occupancy of European underground storage facilities after a long cold winter and a hot summer in 2021. Such persistently high prices have not been seen in the entire history of the operation of gas hubs in Europe, since 1996. gas supply requests
