European gas prices surged to all-time highs hitting USD 1,230 per 1,000 CBM.
The price of November futures on the TTF hub in the Netherlands reached $1,228.8 per 1,000 cubic meters.
The head of Ukraine’s state-backed pipeline company has described Russia’s refusal to ship additional gas supplies to Europe as “blackmail”, with prices for the fuel having risen to the highest on record.
Sergiy Makogon, chief executive of Gas Transmission System Operator of Ukraine, said he believed Russia’s Gazprom was purposefully holding back gas supplies from Europe by refusing to ship additional volumes via Ukraine, in a bid to force the approval of the contentious Nord Stream 2 pipeline that runs from the Baltic to Germany.
The construction of the Nord Stream 2pipeline ended on 10 September.
The pipeline will run on the bed of the Baltic Sea from Russia to Germany.
Running from Russia's Baltic coast to northeastern Germany, the underwater, 1,200-kilometre (745-mile) pipeline follows the same route as Nord Stream 1, which was completed over a decade ago.
Like its twin, Nord Stream 2 will be able to pipe 55 billion cubic metres of gas per year to Europe, increasing the continent's access to relatively cheap natural gas at a time of falling domestic production.
