Despite the fact that the Yamal pipeline has been used less frequently to transport gas to Europe in recent months, gas prices still rose more than 20 percent after the announcement on Thursday.

“The market reaction was strong, because it was not clear whether the reduced supply of gas was enough to meet the demand. Prices also rose because one of the two important transport pipelines through Ukraine has also been unavailable since the beginning of this week. But today, Chris Goth, an analyst with Engi Energy “Gas prices fell again to 100 euros per megawatt-hour.”

European gas price

The Netherlands may not immediately feel the consequences of the Russian sanctions, but that may change in the long run.

“If less gas enters somewhere in Europe, this will have direct consequences for the price of gas. And therefore also for the Netherlands. Because the price of Dutch gas is closely related to the price of gas in other European countries,” says Professor Mulder. In doing so, he is referring to the European gas market, where gas flows are interconnected and there is in fact a single European gas price.

Gas price reacted quickly last week due to the nervousness of the market. Experts say there is no acute problem yet. That may change later this year, says energy analyst Guth. “Because there are fewer export routes available now, this could become especially exciting next winter, if something goes wrong elsewhere, for example,” he says.

Meanwhile, there are plans to make Europe less dependent on Russian gas. Next Wednesday, the European Commission will present the so-called RePowerEU plan that should help Europe get rid of Russian energy from 2030. today It became known that the disappearance of Russian gas would cost the European Union 195 billion euros.