Soaring natural gas prices in European markets could be seen as a boon for Russian giant Gazprom to increase its gas exports towards the Old Continent. But instead, somewhat surprising, Gazprom is adopting the exact opposite strategy, drastically reducing its physical deliveries of natural gas to the EU. Since the end of December 2020, Gazprom gas volumes transiting through Ukraine have fallen by a third to 130 mcbm per day according to CEO of Ukrainian TSO Sergey Makogon, cited by TASS news agency . Hence, spot prices at the Central European Gas Hub (CEGH) in Austria – where Russian gas is traded after flowing through Ukraine and Slovakia – have surged during the past weeks, hitting a record 19,4 euros / MWh (or US$ 6,8 / mmbtu) on January 20th. This ascending trend is firstly due to higher demand for gas as a direct result of the current winter […]