MOSCOW, October 13. /TASS/. Gas prices in Europe are expected to remain at a high level during the upcoming heating season due to competition for liquefied natural gas (LNG) with the Asian market, expert at the Financial University and the National Energy Security Fund Igor Yushkov told TASS.

"For most of the year, prices have remained above $400 per 1,000 cubic meters. Even during the off-season, in spring or fall, when the heating season has already ended or has not yet begun, and air conditioning is not in demand, gas prices did not decline significantly. This is largely explained by the high volume of gas purchases for injection into underground storage facilities (UGS). One can predict that high gas prices in Europe will persist during the upcoming heating season," he noted.

Currently, European consumers are forced to compete with the Asian market for available global LNG volumes. Pipeline suppliers - Norway, Algeria, Azerbaijan, and Russia - are pumping gas to the max, while Europeans have now been forced to purchase the additional volumes in the form of LNG, Yushkov said. At the same time, as the share of LNG in gas imports to the European Union increased, price levels became increasingly influenced by competition between the European and Asian markets.

"LNG goes only to the market where prices are higher at any given moment. Simply put, if prices are low in your market, liquefied gas will not come to you at all," the expert emphasized.

For Russia, high gas prices in Europe are beneficial in the short term, as they boost Gazprom’s revenues and, consequently, the national budget. However, in the long term, the effect is less straightforward, since elevated prices lead to reduced gas consumption, Yushkov concluded.

Earlier, TASS reported that the average gas price in Europe for the first nine months of the year rose by almost one-quarter compared with the same period last year, reaching around $443 per 1,000 cubic meters. The price increase was driven by higher consumption during the heating season and the need to begin filling storage facilities for winter early, supported by record LNG imports.