Natural gas prices in Europe saw a notable increase on Thursday, the first trading day of 2025. The rise came just after Russian gas deliveries to Europe via Ukraine came to a halt, marking the end of decades of pipeline shipments through the region.
Dutch TTF Natural Gas Futures, the benchmark for European gas trading, jumped by as much as 4% in early trading on Thursday in Amsterdam. The gains moderated slightly, with prices up 1% by 10:00 a.m. local time.
The disruption follows the expiration of a crucial gas supply deal between Russia and Europe on December 31, which allowed Russian gas to transit through Ukraine. Ukraine confirmed on January 1 that it would not renew the transit agreement. As a result, Russian energy giant Gazprom stopped pipeline deliveries at 05:00 GMT on New Year’s Day. This affected the last European Union countries still receiving Russian gas—Austria, Slovakia, and Hungary.
While Hungary will continue receiving Russian gas via the TurkStream pipeline, which runs through Turkey and the Balkans, Austria and Slovakia have secured alternative gas supplies from other sources.
In Moldova, the region of Transnistria was hit hardest, as it cut off heating and hot water to households after the gas suspension. Moldova is now working to reduce energy consumption by at least 33% in response to the loss of Russian gas. The country is relying on imports from Romania and plans to increase its use of local wind and solar energy.
The halt in Russian gas deliveries coincided with a severe cold snap forecast to hit Western Europe later this week. Temperatures in major cities like London, Berlin, and Paris are expected to fall below freezing, significantly colder than the average for this time of year, according to weather reports from Bloomberg.
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