European gas prices are up as outages occur in some facilities

On Tuesday, European natural gas prices jumped around 7.1% as the cold weather is predicted to deplete gas stockpiles and disruptions at a few facilities.

According to research from forecaster Maxar, temperatures will start to be “unseasonably chilly” in the continent’s northern half from next week. As a result, Maxar has also lowered its forecast for early December.

Northern parts of Europe could experience gas shortages as winter kicks in

The region’s ability to withstand the energy shortage this winter will be called into question for the first time by the impending frost, as moderate temperatures seem to have reduced demand for heating. In addition, Europe is about to dip deeper into the reserves it has been building up for months after Russia shut off most of its gas supply due to Moscow’s incursion in Ukraine.

In addition to weaker wind generation this week, withdrawal from reserves helped to boost gas prices early Tuesday, according to experts at Alfa Energy. As per outage alerts, there are also processing problems at the Norwegian Troll oilfield and the UK’s Barrow North port.

The benchmark for Europe, Dutch front-month futures, increased 6.5% to €131.30 per megawatt-hour by 1:54 in Amsterdam. The UK comparable contract increased by 9.2%.

Gazprom reneges on plans to cut gas supplies to Moldova via Ukraine

After Gazprom PJSC announced on Monday that it would not curtail gas supplies to Moldova through Ukraine as it had warned, having already stopped Russian gas supplies through other lines, worries that Russia would restrict pipeline supplies via Ukraine have decreased. According to the firm, Tuesday’s gas transit through Ukraine will occur at regular rates.

Russia had threatened that it would cut gas supplies to Moldova through Ukraine. Gazprom indicated that it could cut gas flowing via the Sudhzha distribution channel, the amount it claimed Ukraine was withholding from Moldova. However, Ukraine has denied that it prevented gas supplies to Moldova.

All Russian gas delivered at the Sudzha point of entry for transit to Moldova, according to a statement from the Gas Transmission System Operator of Ukraine (GTSOU), was transported to exit terminals along their common border.