Natural gas in Europe declined as traders weigh Europe’s reluctance to sanction Russian supplies and the potential easing of retaliatory action by Moscow. Benchmark Dutch futures fell as much as 21% after swinging wildly between gains and losses on Tuesday. While the European Commission has said it plans to reduce Russian gas imports by two-thirds this year, finding alternatives will be tough. Leaders in the region including German Chancellor Olaf Scholz have opposed cutting off energy supplies, with the country even allowing Uniper SE to boost purchases. “The European Commission following yesterday’s announcement is showing no interest in sanctions on oil and gas imports and this will have further eased concerns of retaliatory action by Russia,” said Tom Marzec-Manser, head of gas analytics at ICIS in London. “The market has priced in the possibility of a gas supply disruption from Russia.” Russian gas meets about a third of Europe’s […]