Russian gas supplies to the west via the Yamal pipeline resumed

Russian gas supplies via the Yamal gas pipeline to Germany resumed on Thursday afternoon, according to data from the German gas network operator Gascade. This has caused gas prices in Europe to fall. Russian gas flows through the gas pipeline through Poland to Germany, but since Saturday it has been operating in reverse mode, ie the gas has flowed eastwards. This reverse flow caused the prices of futures contracts for European gas to rise by as much as 23 percent during the week compared to the final price from last Friday. Gas prices for the European market are now falling. The price of a key futures contract for gas delivered in December showed a decline of 2.6 percent to EUR 74.6 per megawatt-hour. This is shown by the data for the Title Transfer Facility virtual trading hub in the Netherlands, which determines prices on the European market. At the beginning of October, the price exceeded 160 euros per megawatt-hour, last year at this time it was only around 15 euros per megawatt-hour. The Russian gas company Gazprom has previously stated that even after the reversal of the flow in the pipeline, it is fulfilling its obligations to its customers in Europe. This was also confirmed by a spokesman for the Polish state-owned gas company PGNiG, according to which Poland is still receiving the agreed amount. Due to disagreements with Moscow, some Eastern European countries do not buy gas directly from Russia, but through contracts with other countries. According to the Russian agency Interfax, these so-called reverse contracts are behind the reversal of the Yamal pipeline. Their designation is derived from the fact that gas is bought from Russia by Western European companies, which then send it back east to countries that, for political reasons, do not want to buy directly from Russia. The Yamal pipeline brings Russian gas through Belarusian and Polish territories to Germany. Its capacity is up to 33 billion cubic meters per year. Last year, the agreement between Russia and Poland on the transit of raw materials expired, but Gazprom can order transmission capacity at auctions.