European policymakers and some traders blame Russia for the low volume of gas stored across the region which has sent both gas and electricity prices surging to record highs.
Russia's pipeline gas export monopoly Gazprom has met commitments for long-term contracts, its clients confirm. But it has not raced to book extra pipeline capacity for spot buyers, despite European calls for more supplies.Some policymakers and traders have speculated additional gas has been deliberately withheld to make a diplomatic point and accelerate the approval of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline.
But whatever the reason, the result is the same: gas is in short supply and European energy prices have hit record levels. Energy production and consumption fell sharply last year, with consumption generally falling earlier and faster than production, leading to a big rise in inventories, and intensifying the downward pressure on prices.
The winter drawdown of 2020/21 was the second-largest on record and left inventories at their lowest for three years. Tight fundamentals and deliberate squeezes are inseparable. But it is the tight fundamentals that create conditions for a squeeze not the other way around.
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