The price of natural gas futures in Europe surged after Russian gas giant Gazprom announced on Friday that it would suspend natural gas delivery to Europe via the Nord Stream 1 pipeline for three days due to maintenance.
On Friday, the trading price of natural gas futures broke the threshold of 2,700 U.S. dollars per cubic meter for the first time since March, and ended at 2,670 U.S. dollars for September delivery.
In mid-June, Gazprom slashed daily gas delivery via the key pipeline to no more than 67 million cubic meters, citing Siemens' failure to overhaul gas turbine engines in time due to Western sanctions against Russia.
On July 27, Gazprom further cut the daily supply to 33 million cubic meters, just about 20 percent of the pipeline's maximum capacity.
Completed in 2011, the Nord Stream 1 connects Vyborg City in northwestern Russia and Germany via the Baltic seabed. To relax its overload, the Nord Stream 2 pipeline was finished in 2021 but has been halted since Russia launched a special military operation in Ukraine in February.
Sadiq Khan, Mayor of London, warned in his tweet on Saturday that millions of British people may not afford enough food and heating in the coming winter due to soaring prices.
Forecasts from energy consulting companies in the UK indicate that British families will pay 80 percent more on their energy bills in October.
