Putin Decision Causes European Gas Prices to Drop
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Gas prices dropped by 6% in Europe after Russian President Vladimir Putin directed Gazprom to increase its EU gas supplies.
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Russian President Vladimir Putin attends a press conference with the Belarusian president following their talks in the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia, September 9, 2021 (AFP)
European gas prices dropped Thursday after Russian President Vladimir Putin directed Russia's natural gas company to increase its gas supplies to European storages.
Europe's gas prices have been at an increase for weeks now during high Asian demand catalyzed by economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic and the European Union's expended stocks following a cold winter.
According to trading, gas prices in Europe dipped by 6% in the morning trade, reaching a low of less than $1,000 per thousand cubic meters.
Gas prices in the old continent had dipped by 3% on Wednesday, bringing them down to $1,014.8 per thousand cubic meters after the Russian leader directed the major natural gas company to up its output to Europe.
Putin told Gazprom CEO Alexei Miller to finish filling Russian storages by November 8 and then "start to gradually increase the volume of gas in your underground storage facilities in Europe - Austria and Germany."
During a televised meeting with energy officials, Putin said this timeline would enable Gazprom to fulfill its contractual obligations to supply European partners with gas in the autumn-winter period.
The scheduled supplies would create "a more favorable situation in the energy market in Europe as a whole," the Russian president said.
Putin had previously expressed his country's readiness to help its neighboring continent out of its energy crisis, and this action is an enactment of his pledge.
European foreign ministers held an emergency meeting on Tuesday as globally surging energy prices are putting the European Union's energy market on the line. The meeting saw 11 EU member states rejecting 'deep-rooted reforms to the market,' an action proposed by Spain, France, and Germany.
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