Gas prices jumped by about 6 percent in evening trading, Tuesday, after a German government body suspended the approval of the “Nord Stream 2” pipeline, the new carrier of Russian gas to Europe via Germany.
And by 17:48 (GMT), the prices of gas contracts, for December delivery, increased 30 cents, or 5.84 percent, to trade at $5.32 per million British thermal units.
During trading, crude contracts jumped by about 11 percent, before losing part of their gains.
The German Energy Authority said, in a statement, that it had temporarily suspended the approval process for the “Nord Stream 2” pipeline, “because the alliance behind the pipeline needs first to establish a subsidiary company in Germany, under German law, (as a condition) to obtain an operating license. “.
Nord Stream 2 faces strong opposition from the United States and some European countries such as Poland, arguing that it increases Europe’s dependence on Russian gas, threatening the continent’s energy security.
The pipeline was completed last September and connects Russia to Germany via the Baltic Sea, with a length of 1,230 km, and a pumping capacity of 55 billion cubic meters of gas annually.
And on Monday, gas contracts jumped by about 11% as well, after stopping the pumping of gas through the “Yamal-Europe” pipeline, which passes through the territory of Russia and Belarus, at a time when Europe is experiencing an unprecedented crisis in gas supplies.
The capacity of the “Yamal-Europe pipeline ” is about 33 billion cubic meters annually.
Gas prices in Europe have risen by about 200 percent since the beginning of 2021, which experts attribute to the tight supply in the face of an increasing rise in demand due to expectations of a harsh winter this year.
