On Saturday, Russian Deputy PM Alexander Novak reiterated that the country is ready to boost gas supplies to the EU, if requested, amid its own record-high domestic demand.
"I want to underline that we in Russia have record-high gas consumption figures this year, which is also due to active economic recovery," Novak said.
However, Russia has stated that it has to complete the filling of its own gas storage reserves first before it raises the allocation to Europe’s spot market. The domestic gas filling is expected to be completed by the end of October.
Novak did not disclose the size of Russia’s gas reserves, but he predicted that at the moment, the European underground facilities were lacking roughly 25 bcm of gas.
In Europe, European gas prices eased earlier in October following Russia’s claim of being able to supply more, but these supplies have yet to materialize.