Prices of European natural gas contracts rose by about 16% and reached their highest level since last March, following fears of prolonged supply disruptions from Russia, which also led to a rise in electricity prices to new record levels.
And the Russian state-owned energy company, "Gazprom", announced - in a statement posted on the Internet - the closure of the only pipeline that transports natural gas to Europe for 3 days at the end of this month for "periodic maintenance."
Gazprom said that the only turbine operating a major compressor station in the Nord Stream 1 pipeline, which links western Russia and Germany, is scheduled to be shut down for "periodic maintenance" from August 31 to September 2.
Based on the approach of this date, contracts rose to more than 292 euros per megawatt-hour, or more than 300 dollars per thousand cubic meters.
In response to this statement, the German Economy Ministry said in an email to The Associated Press, “We are monitoring the situation in close cooperation with the Federal Network Agency” that regulates gas markets, explaining that “gas flows through Nord Stream 1 are currently unchanged from 20%.”
Plan to reduce gas consumption by 20%
For his part, warned Robert Habeck, German Economy Minister that Russia may reduce gas supplies to Europe again.
He said Germany was facing a very critical winter.
The German minister explained that his country is working to provide sufficient stocks of gas and provide alternative sources of energy, stressing that Germany has a plan to reduce gas consumption by 20%.
In turn, the Bundesbank warned that the country could slide into recession if the energy crisis escalated.
German Chancellor Olaf Schulz is due to sign agreements to supply important raw materials with Canada, instead of those that Berlin was importing from Russia.
During his current visit to Canada, Schultz said Canada has as rich mineral resources as Russia as well as a reliable democracy, which opens up new areas for cooperation.
And German media reports said that Canada and Germany were discussing the construction of liquefied natural gas stations on the Canadian coast on the Atlantic Ocean.
Both Schulz and Habeck have expressed concerns that Germany will not be able to switch all of its imports of Russian natural gas this winter.
Schulz said Germany was considering nuclear power because of growing concerns that Europe's largest economy would not be able to replace dwindling natural gas supplies from Russia.
The German chancellor added that there is an option to extend the life of the last three reactors in Germany beyond next December.
Schultz worries that there is no ready answer to the question of what will happen when the gas runs out.
For his part, the head of the government of the German state of Saxony said that he did not see that the operation of the gas pipeline "Nord Stream 2" would be a good thing despite the gas crisis in his country currently.
In press statements, the German official described President Putin's offer to use Nord Stream 2 as "poisoned."
He stressed that the Nord Stream 1 pipeline is already working and that reducing the amount of gas transported through it is a political action by Moscow in response to European sanctions.
In a related context, a report by Citigroup (CITI Group) warned that inflation in Britain is on its way to reach 18% early next year due to the rise in gas prices.