With the cessation of Russian pumping, gas prices rise in Europe

Natural gas futures prices rose in European trading on Tuesday in light of expectations that pumping through the territory of Ukraine will stop with the expiration of transit contracts at the end of this year.
Bloomberg News Agency reported that the prices of contracts for delivery next February increased by 2.8%, with the five-year contract to transport Russian gas via Ukraine awaiting the end of midnight today, in the absence of any arrangements to replace it.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy rejected any agreement that would guarantee the continued flow of Russian gas to European markets to deprive Russia of the revenues from these exports.

Natural gas in Europe

Doubts about the continued flow of these supplies, which represent about 5% of the total European demand for gas, led to a rise in standard contract prices by 51% during the current year.
The expected cessation of supplies that benefit Slovakia and a number of Central European countries comes at a time when the region is preparing for a wave of extremely cold weather during January.
Natural gas reserves in the region are also declining faster than usual, making it difficult to reach the target storage levels before the peak demand for gas for heating purposes during the winter.