Bloomberg: EU Gas Traders Boost Near-Term Buying to Cut Russia Need

Natural gas traders in eastern Europe are increasingly sourcing gas on spot markets in the west of the region to diversify supply and reduce dependence on Russia, according to regulators.

The Czech Republic, Poland and Slovakia boosted imports from Germany and Austria through so-called counter flows last year, according to a joint report by the Ljubljana, Slovenia-based Agency for the Cooperation of Energy Regulators and the Council of European Energy Regulators in Brussels.

“Several central-east European countries are striving to diversify their gas sources, in order to lower their dependency on Russian gas, and have been looking to western Europe’s spot markets,” the organizations said in their annual report on European Union electricity and gas markets. “The commercial counter flows are expected to increase in future given the profitable price spreads” and expanding pipeline capacity from west to east.
MORE