On Monday, Russian gas flows to Germany via a key pipeline rose amid the supply threat from Belarus.
Flows into Germany at the Mallnow metering point jumped to 12,454,248 kWh, according to German network operator Gascade. It was higher compared to the volumes seen on the weekend.
The increase happened despite Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko’s threat last week to shut the Yamal-Europe pipeline that crosses his country. The gas transportation infrastructure in Belarus is owned by the Russian national gas major Gazprom.
The Kremlin had belittled the threat, saying that Belarus did not communicate the shutdown plan to Moscow first and warned Belarus that the move could risk the two countries’ bilateral relations.
On a related note, also on Monday, Gazprom had not booked any additional gas transit capacity via Ukraine and via the Polish section of the Yamal-Europe pipeline for December in the monthly auction.
However, it commented, "If necessary, we have the possibility to quickly book additional transport capacity, including via the Yamal-Europe, on the shorter basis.”
Yesterday’s European spot gas prices soared by 8.8% to EUR81.60/mWh (USD93.26/mWh) by 18.00 GMT.
