In winter, gas prices in Europe may break the bar of four thousand dollars per thousand cubic meters, Gazprom predicted in its Telegram channel.

The company noted that gas is now trading above $2,500 on European spot exchanges.

According to conservative estimates, if the trend continues, prices will exceed the level of four thousand dollars per thousand cubic meters in winter, said Gazprom.

Last week, gas futures were trading near $2.1 thousand and rising gradually, and at the beginning of this week they jumped sharply to $2.45 thousand. At the same time, according to the Association of European Gas Infrastructure Operators, as of Sunday, reserves in European underground storage facilities were replenished by 48.6 billion cubic meters, and overall UGS facilities were 74.73 percent full.

In order to reach the level of occupancy of UGS facilities at the beginning of the 2019/2020 withdrawal season, companies will have to pump another 23.8 billion cubic meters, Gazprom specified.

The European market faced a gas collapse last year. Experts attributed it to limited supply from major suppliers, low levels of underground storage capacity and high demand for liquefied natural gas in Asia.

Right now, Europe continues to face pressure because of continued tensions with Russian exports. And in recent days, the region has been affected by hot weather, which has reduced power generation from alternative sources.