Bloomberg: Gas Swings Show Russia Avoids Iran-Style Curbs

European natural gas traders are playing down the risk of Iranian-style sanctions on Russian energy even as the U.S. and European Union set further limits on companies and officials in the former Soviet state.

The CHART OF THE DAY shows 60-day historical volatility, a measure of price swings, for U.K. next-day natural gas was little changed at 32 percent yesterday, compared with a mean of 69 percent since 2008, according to broker data compiled by Bloomberg. Volatility jumped to 119 percent on Jan. 2, 2009, the day after a Russian cut to Ukrainian gas supply disrupted flows to Europe during a freezing winter.

“The apparent complacency in energy markets likely stems from the fact that the probability assigned to an interruption in oil and gas flows through Ukraine is still low,” said Harry Tchilinguirian, head of commodity markets strategy at BNP Paribas SA in London
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