The gas price is rising sharply

While Gazprom and the EU are arguing about the operating permit for the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, Russian gas supplies through an important pipeline are drying up. According to the data at the measuring point in Mallnow, Brandenburg, no more natural gas has flowed through the Yamal pipeline, which runs from Russia through Poland, since Saturday. Against this background, the gas price is rising sharply: The European futures contract is 15 percent more expensive to EUR 74.35 per megawatt hour. It is unclear why no gas is flowing. The Kremlin-controlled gas company Gazprom could not initially be reached for comment. The interruption of the delivery takes place against the background that Russia is accused of deliberately throttling the gas supply for weeks in order to put the EU under pressure. The Nord Stream 2 pipeline has already been completed and is to pump Russian natural gas directly to Germany via the Baltic Sea. However, gas transport is currently not permitted because certification from the Federal Network Agency is still pending. The authority checks whether the operation of the pipeline and sales are sufficiently separated as provided for by the EU gas directive. According to the Bonn authority, this is an administrative procedure and not a political one. But even if the Federal Network Agency should give the green light, not all hurdles have been cleared. The current EU gas directive regulates that a review by the European Commission must be carried out before final certification. The Brussels authority may allow up to four months for this and the final statement. Only then can the final decision be issued by the national regulatory authority. The EU Commission will probably exhaust the deadline for drafting the opinion, also because the political pressure from opponents of the pipeline is great.