Residents of Scandinavia get the most expensive gas in Europe

According to economists, the most expensive gas in Europe is bought by residents of Scandinavia – Sweden and Denmark. A little less for blue fuel is paid in the Netherlands and Spain.

The most expensive gas is purchased by Swedes: in terms of Russian currency, a cubic meter of fuel costs residents of Sweden 137 rubles. Denmark, the Netherlands and Spain are next in the ranking for the high cost of gas. In these countries, a cubic meter of gas costs more than 80 rubles.

As you know, the European gas market experienced an unprecedented price increase in 2021, which in some countries led to an acute energy crisis. Thus, the average cost of gas on the largest exchange platform in the region, the Dutch TTF, has increased more than fivefold over the year and in 2021 amounted to $573.9 per thousand cubic meters. At the same time, in December, the price for gas reached a historical record at levels above $2000. 

One of the reasons for the price increase was the temperature factor – in the first quarter of 2021, the temperature in Europe was significantly lower than in 2020. Moreover, the decline in gas production in the Netherlands and Norway, as well as the outflow of LNG from Europe to Asia, led to a shortage of gas in the market during the period of active filling of gas storage facilities. 

At the same time, there was a decrease in electricity generation at wind farms due to the low-wind weather at that time. Moreover, in 2021, prices for CO2 emissions rose to a record level, which forced consumers to replace coal-fired generation with gas.