The world gas prices have established a record and achieved the highest level since the fall of 2018, Kommersant writes. Analysts are counting on saving the trend until the end of the year.
As of the beginning of April, the average price of thousands of cubic meters of gas on European hubs exceeds $ 250. At the Dutch TTF traded futures with delivery date in the fourth quarter of 2021 for 21 euros per megawatt-hour.
According to experts, the main reason for rising prices was the active filling of underground storage facilities, which reduces the offer on the spot (current) market. Currently, the main European storage facilities are completed by 31 percent – against 29 percent at the end of February.
At the same time, previous reserves are also extracted from the tanks. From December to February, 69 billion cubic meters of gas was extracted, which is 24 billion more than last year’s indicators. This situation has developed due to colder compared to winter and spring expectations.
Another reason is in the transition of many industrial manufacturers from coal to gas. They forced them to go to the rise price of quotas for harmful emissions traded on special exchanges. In April, the carbon dioxide tons is traded by 43 euros.