By the end of the winter, Europe was hit by snowstorms and extremely low temperatures. A freezing temperature created buoyant demand for the Russian gas. On February 21, the state-owned Gazprom set a fresh record of gas exported in a single day that comes in at 645.1 million cubic meters. The company expects new records in the short run as the frosty blast is not going to give up.
The frost invaded a larger part of Europe as a result of the Arctic blast from Eurasia which was nicknamed the Beast from the East. The ongoing Siberian anticyclone accounts for massive gas supplies. No wonder big demand boosts the gas price in the spot market. For instance, contracts for gas supplies skyrocketed to $360 per 1,000 cubic meters in Austria’s Baumgarten compared to the price tag of about $230 in early February.
Remarkably, despite the standoff between the EU and Russia in 2017, the countries of North-Western and Central Europe increased gas imports from Russia. The record volume of 53.4 billion cubic meters was delivered to Germany that is 7.1% up from the previous month. Gas imports to Austria expanded by 40% to 8.5 billion cubic meters. The Netherlands bought whopping 4.6 billion cubic meters, 9.7% up from regular gas supplies.
