Russia's Gazprom Says Europe Gas Prices Could Set New Records

　　Already high natural gas prices in Europe could scale new heights due to low gas storage levels, Alexei Miller, boss of Russian supplier Gazprom, said on Friday.

　　Miller also told an online conference that demand is rising for natural gas, which he described as a "clean fuel" that could help the transition to greener energy.

　　He said Europe's gas in storage is currently 22.9 billion cubic meters (bcm) below normal levels.

　　"This is very big... All the experts are saying that Europe won't be able to catch up with the lag in pumping (into storage).

　　"Europe will enter the autumn/winter period with shortages in underground storage," he said.

　　"Of course, the situation is having an impact on prices and we see that the prices in Europe have beaten all the possible records. It's even possible that they will beat the records which they had already achieved."

　　Day-ahead gas prices at the Dutch TTF hub, a European benchmark, have more than tripled this year to record levels and boosted power prices.

　　NORD STREAM 2

　　Miller reiterated that Gazprom was sticking to its supply obligations in full and that the company was ready to pump more gas if needed.

　　Gazprom is set to double its gas export capacity to Europe via the Baltic Sea after announcing the completion last week of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline to Germany.

　　However it still needs operating approval from Germany, a process expected to take up to four months.

　　"Nord Stream 2 remains a point of uncertainty but also, in isolation, is unlikely to make enough of a difference to gas balances," Barclays analysts wrote on Friday.

　　Gazprom's CEO Miller also said that Asian markets are more attractive for gas supplies despite record-high prices in Europe.

　　郝芬 譯自 管道&天然氣雜志網(wǎng)

　　據(jù)管道&天然氣雜志網(wǎng)9月17日報(bào)道,俄羅斯天然氣供應(yīng)商俄羅斯天然氣工業(yè)股份公司(Gazprom)總裁阿列克謝•米勒(Alexei Miller)上周五表示,由于天然氣儲存水平較低,歐洲本已高企的天然氣價(jià)格可能會再創(chuàng)新高。

　　米勒還在一次在線會議上表示,對天然氣的需求正在上升,他稱天然氣是一種“清潔燃料”,有助于向綠色能源過渡。

　　他稱,目前歐洲的天然氣儲量比正常水平低229億立方米。這是非常大的......所有專家都說歐洲將無法趕上生產(chǎn)（進(jìn)入存儲）的滯后。歐洲將進(jìn)入地下儲存短缺的秋冬期。當(dāng)然,這種情況正在對價(jià)格產(chǎn)生影響,我們看到歐洲的價(jià)格已經(jīng)打破了所有可能的紀(jì)錄。甚至有可能打破他們已經(jīng)創(chuàng)下的紀(jì)錄。

　　作為歐洲基準(zhǔn)的荷蘭TTF中心（Dutch TTF hub）的日前天然氣價(jià)格今年上漲了兩倍多,達(dá)到創(chuàng)紀(jì)錄水平,并推高了電價(jià)。

　　北溪2號

　　米勒重申,俄羅斯天然氣工業(yè)股份公司將完全遵守其供應(yīng)義務(wù),并準(zhǔn)備在需要時(shí)提供更多天然氣。

　　在上周宣布通向德國的北溪2號管道竣工后,俄羅斯天然氣工業(yè)股份公司將通過波羅的海向歐洲出口天然氣量提高一倍。

　　不過,該公司仍需獲得德國的運(yùn)營批準(zhǔn),這一過程預(yù)計(jì)需要長達(dá)四個月的時(shí)間。

　　巴克萊(Barclays)分析師上周五寫道,北溪2號項(xiàng)目仍存在不確定性,而且單獨(dú)來看,也不太可能對天然氣平衡產(chǎn)生足夠大的影響。

　　俄羅斯天然氣工業(yè)股份公司首席執(zhí)行官米勒還表示,盡管歐洲的天然氣價(jià)格創(chuàng)歷史新高,但亞洲市場對天然氣供應(yīng)更具吸引力。