The gas price rose above 190 euros per megawatt hour on Tuesday for the first time since March on the leading Amsterdam gas exchange.
Gas traders responded to the announcement that gas supply through the Nord Stream pipeline would be halved to 20 percent of normal volume from Wednesday. As a result, European countries such as Germany will probably not be able to replenish gas supplies sufficiently for the coming winter.
The gas price is about 7 percent higher on Tuesday around 11 a.m. The price has been rising all day, partly due to the lack of firm agreements within the European Union about saving gas. This increases the risk of gas shortages.
Gazprom announced the halving of its gas flow Monday. The Russian state gas company claims that this is necessary to maintain a turbine. Last month, Gazprom cited the maintenance of another turbine as the reason for cutting the gas supply to 40 percent of normal levels. That has never been increased since.