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Twenty percent or 12.7 billion cubic meters (448.5 billion cubic feet) of natural gas imported into the European Union in the third quarter came from Russia, up two percentage points from the previous quarter and five percentage points against the third quarter of 2023, the European Commission has reported.
The increase comes as the EU prepares for the expected end this month of the transit agreement allowing the export of Russian gas to the EU via Ukraine.
However, compared to the first quarter of 2021, before the Russia-Ukraine war broke out, the figure marks a 64 percent fall in the Russian share of EU gas imports, according to the Commission’s quarterly gas market report.
The 27-member EU imported 64 billion cubic meters of gas in July–September 2024, down eight percent quarter-on-quarter and six percent year-on-year. Of the total, pipeline gas accounted for 67 percent and liquefied natural gas (LNG) declined to 33 percent, said the report on the Commission’s website.
Russia accounted for 20 percent of gas imported by the EU via pipeline in the third quarter. Norway continued to be the EU’s top pipeline gas supplier with a share of 47 percent, followed by North Africa (16 percent). The United Kingdom was the EU’s fourth-biggest pipeline gas source accounting for 11 percent, while Azerbaijan came fifth with six percent.
Compared to the second quarter, the pipeline figures showed Russia’s share rose from 17 percent while the share of the others in the top four sources in the second quarter — Norway, North Africa and Azerbaijan — declined in the third quarter. Besides the increase in Russia’s share in terms of percentage, this decrease in the others’ share was absorbed by the United Kingdom, which displaced Azerbaijan as the EU’s fourth-biggest supplier.
For LNG, Russia also accounted for 20 percent, while the United States remained the EU’s biggest source accounting for 40 percent. Qatar came third accounting for 12 percent.
European gas spot prices — based on the virtual trading platform Title Transfer Facility — averaged EUR 35.4 ($37) per megawatt hour (mWh) in the third quarter. That is seven percent higher than the same quarter in 2023 and 11 percent higher than the prior quarter in 2024. However, compared to historic peaks in the third quarter of 2022, the average spot price in the third quarter of 2024 represents an 82 percent decrease.
“In the third quarter, prices continued to rise throughout July and August continuing the rising trend observed already in the second quarter”, the report noted. “The average monthly price was 32.2 EUR/MWh in July and 37.8 EUR/MWh in August, when they peaked at 39.3 EUR/MWh on 8 August following Ukraine incursion into Russian territory in the Kursk region on 6 August and threatening to cut gas flows through the only remaining entry point of Russian gas into Ukraine at the Sudzha interconnection.
“As gas flows continued at the usual rate despite the continuation of the conflict, European gas markets calmed down and prices declined to a monthly average of 36.2 EUR/MWh in September”.
