MOSCOW, August 31. /TASS/. The price of gas in Europe at the peak of the autumn-winter season, according to Gazprom, may exceed $4,000 per 1,000 cubic meters, Gazprom CEO Alexey Miller said during a conference call on Wednesday.

"And what do we see today? Literally, we see a "price rally." A "price rally" at gas trading platforms, at gas hubs. The price of gas regularly exceeds the level of three thousand dollars per one thousand cubic meters. In Gazprom we made price forecasts for the upcoming winter. And you know, according to a conservative estimate, if the current market trends persist, the price at the peak of the autumn-winter season may exceed $4,000 per thousand cubic meters," he said.

Miller linked the change in the entire global energy system with fundamentally wrong decisions taken by foreign, Western regulators and with the sanctions policy.

First of all, this is due to attempts to abandon traditional energy, to abandon the system of long-term contracts for gas supplies to markets.

"And, as a result, this is a blow to the reliability and stability of gas supplies. I would like to draw your attention to the fact that all these erroneous decisions were made under enormous pressure from supporters of the so-called "accelerated decarbonization," Miller emphasized.

"The environmental agenda of the European Union, we have heard so much about over the past years, today is simply thrown to the basket. We see how coal consumption and fuel oil consumption are growing sharply in Europe. What is also curious is the rush demand for firewood "Everyone decided to stock up on firewood. No one remembers the environmental agenda anymore. Everyone is thinking how to get through the coming winter," the head of the Russian gas holding concluded.

On the situation with gas prices in Europe

Last week, the spot price of gas in Europe during trading on the London ICE exchange exceeded $3,500 per 1,000 cubic meters for the first time since early March, having approached an all-time high - on March 7, 2022, the exchange price of gas reached almost $ 3,900.

Experts interviewed by TASS allowed for a surge in gas prices in winter to a record $5,000 per 1,000 cubic meters in case of a sharp cold snap and a reduction of reserves in storage.