Russian state gas group Gazprom has begun to fill some of its storage facilities in Europe in the first significant sign it is prepared to act on a promise by President Vladimir Putin to help assuage the continent’s energy crisis.
Gazprom on Tuesday said it had “determined the volumes and routes for transporting the gas” to four sites in Germany and one in Austria, without adding any further details.
Putin had promised the company would this week start filling some of its depleted storage sites in Europe after it let volumes of gas there fall to unusually low levels.
The move is the first tentative sign Russia may increase exports to western Europe as soaring gas prices have pushed the region to the brink of a full-blown energy crisis. Some European lawmakers have blamed the problems on Moscow limiting supplies.
Strong demand globally, a drop in wind power generation, and rising consumption of liquefied natural gas in Asia have left European consumers hoping for help from Russia, which provides 40 percent of the continent’s gas.
But markets reacted tepidly after it became clear Russia would not increase supply volumes enough to stave off worries that even slightly colder winter than expected could create gas shortages in Europe.
The European benchmark contract was down only 1 percent in early afternoon trading on Tuesday to €77-75 per megawatt-hour, while the UK contract for December delivery slipped almost 3 percent to 21.97 per therm.
Prices fell further later in the session after Gazprom booked additional pipeline capacity through Ukraine, allowing it to further boost exports on Wednesday, although still by a relatively small amount.
“The market must be assuming these bookings continue to rise,” said James Huckstepp at S&P Global Platts.