Bloomberg: "Russia Likely to Resume Gas Supply to Europe"... Natural Gas Prices Stabilize

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[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Bo-kyung] Russian state-owned gas company Gazprom is expected to resume natural gas supply to Europe, Bloomberg reported on the 2nd (local time).

According to the report, gas supply through the Nord Stream 1 pipeline, which runs from Russia to Germany via the Baltic Sea seabed, is expected to resume at about 20% of maximum transport capacity after 2 a.m. on the 3rd (Central European Standard Time).

On the 31st of last month, Gazprom announced it would stop gas supply for three days, citing the need to maintain the Nord Stream 1 compressor station.

Bloomberg explained that considering the recent transportation details of pipeline equipment ordered by Gazprom, there is a high possibility that gas supply will resume as scheduled. Russian Deputy Prime Minister Aleksandr Novak also recently mentioned regarding the resumption of gas supply that "the planned schedule is being followed."

In Europe, this move is being analyzed as an attempt by Russia to unsettle Europe by using natural gas supply as a weapon and to shake economic sanctions against Russia.

Gazprom reduced gas supply through Nord Stream 1 to 40% of maximum transport capacity in mid-June, then stopped gas supply for ten days in July citing maintenance work, and later lowered the supply again to about 20% due to technical issues.

Following the outlook for the resumption of gas supply, European natural gas prices showed signs of stabilization. The Dutch TTF futures price, a benchmark for European gas prices, fell to 228 euros (about 310,000 KRW) per MWh that morning.

Compared to the record high of 347 euros (about 472,000 KRW) on the 26th of last month, this represents a drop of about 33%, which Bloomberg explained is the largest decline since March 11.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.