For the first time since March, the gas price in Europe exceeded the mark of 3,000 dollars per 1,000 cubic meters, according to the London exchange ICE. The cost increase this Monday was around 18%.
A few hours earlier, gasoline prices on the continent surged above $2,750 for the first time in six months after rising nearly 8%.
The price hike comes amid the energy crisis in Europe, which began after the imposition of sanctions on Russia and is causing significant damage to its economy.
Earlier, the Russian energy company Gazprom announced that it would interrupt the flow of gas through the Nord Stream 1 pipeline for three days, from August 31 to September 2. The disruption is due to scheduled maintenance on the pipeline’s only operating turbine. Upon completion of the review, gas transportation will be brought back to the level of 33 million cubic meters per day.
The prospect of closure comes as Europe tries to fill gas storage facilities ahead of the heating season.
The warehouses in Germany must be 95% full by November 1st. At the end of July, Germany’s gas storage facilities were only 66.8% full, according to the Federal Network Agency (BNetzA), and the agency said at the time that even if flows through the Nord Stream remain at current levels of maximum 20% capacity, a storage level of 95 % by November “can hardly be achieved without additional measures”.