The price of natural gas reached a new all-time high on the European market on Monday morning, after the US announced that it could impose restrictions on Russian oil imports, a decision that would create new concerns in the commodity markets, Bloomberg reports. At the same time, at the Romanian Commodity Exchange gas reached 1,179 lei/MWh (about 235 euros), a level almost double compared to Friday’s intraday quotation.

At the TTF gas hub in the Netherlands, where reference prices are set in Europe, prices rose 79% on Monday to a new record of 345 euros per Megawatt-hour. Monday’s advance is a continuation of an appreciation trend that has doubled prices over the past week after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and international sanctions on Russia turned commodity markets around the world upside down. The price of a barrel of crude oil exceeded $139 on the London Stock Exchange and aluminum and copper also reached new all-time highs, according to Agerpres.

The price of electricity on the Romanian exchange OPCOM, with delivery on Tuesday, has a record average of 2,673 lei per MWh, according to the data of the stock exchange operator.

The price exceeds 3,000 lei in six hourly intervals, the highest level being 3,286 lei, being for energy with delivery between 19:00 and 20:00.

The situation is similar in European markets with the price of the main goods.

Autor: Bogdan Tudorache

Active in the economic and business press for the past 26 years, Bogdan graduated Law and then attended intensive courses in Economics and Business English. He went up to the position of editor-in-chief since 2006 and has provided management and editorial policy for numerous economic publications dedicated especially to the community of foreign investors in Romania. From 2003 to 2013 he was active mainly in the financial-banking sector. He started freelancing for Energynomics in 2013, notable for his advanced knowledge of markets, business communities and a mature editorial style, both in Romanian and English.