Multiple foreign media reports suggest that Russia will continue to restrict natural gas supply to Europe next month. Despite Russia's firm statement last week that it is ready to help stabilize the market, it still refuses to increase supply to Europe in November.

Russia stated on October 6th that this year's natural gas exports to Europe may reach record levels, and if customers have additional demand, they will increase supply. Currently, European natural gas inventories are at their lowest seasonal level in over a decade.

Analysts say people are still concerned that even if Russia has completed injecting gas into the first pipeline of Nord Stream 2, Gazprom may not have the ability to deliver additional natural gas to Europe. Russia has repeatedly emphasized the need to fill domestic inventory before increasing exports.

The latest natural gas capacity auction data shows that Gazprom, Europe's largest natural gas provider, plans not to transport more natural gas to Europe through Ukraine's main natural gas pipeline next month. In addition, Gazprom will have a very limited increase in the transportation capacity of the Polish pipeline, with Russian traders only booking 35% of the relevant transportation capacity for November.

Affected by this news, natural gas prices in Europe rose on Monday. The wholesale natural gas prices delivered by the Netherlands in the first quarter of 2022 rose by over 11%, while the wholesale natural gas prices delivered by the UK in the first quarter of 2022 rose by nearly 10%.

German Chancellor Merkel said on Monday that the G20 group must discuss the future use of natural gas. Ukrainian oil and gas company directly pointed out that "North Stream 2" has disrupted competition in the European market.

The operator of the "Beixi 2" natural gas pipeline stated that the first of the two pipelines in the project has been injected with natural gas and is still waiting for approval to begin transportation to Europe. However, the approval process may take several months.

It is reported that approximately 177 million cubic meters of natural gas have been injected into the pipeline, reaching the pressure required to maintain pipeline pressure for future natural gas sales (103 bar). This pressure is enough to start natural gas transportation in the future. The company also added that the pre commissioning steps for the second pipeline are currently underway.

Russia has stated that the "North Stream 2" will double Moscow's annual natural gas export capacity in the Baltic Sea region to 110 billion cubic meters.

However, the pipeline project faces obstruction from the United States, which has stated that the pipeline will increase Europe's dependence on Russian energy.

In addition, in response to accusations from the International Energy Agency and some European Parliament members that Russia has not taken sufficient measures to increase natural gas supply to Europe, the Russian government has stated that it has not played any role in leading to a surge in natural gas prices in Europe.

According to reports, during an interview with Russian media on the 17th, Russian Presidential Press Secretary Peskov commented on President Putin's recent remarks on the energy prospects in Europe. He pointed out that Putin did not scare anyone, and only described the prospects in the fields of disarmament, security, or climate change, while Putin's predictions are becoming a reality.

Previously, Putin had pointed out that the European energy market was "crazy and chaotic". On the 6th of this month, Putin stated at the Russian government's energy development conference that the economic recovery has led to increasing energy demand, and the severe winter weather has led to a decrease in natural gas reserves, all of which are factors leading to natural gas shortages in Europe. The erroneous decision of the previous European Commission further exacerbated this situation, ultimately leaving consumers on the European continent to pay for it.

On the 13th of this month, during his participation in the "Russia Energy Week" forum, Putin repeatedly reminded attention to the issue of rising natural gas prices caused by incorrect policies in European countries. Putin said that many countries in Europe have not replenished their natural gas reserves after the previous cold winter, but instead "rely on natural gas spot". Therefore, natural gas prices skyrocket when demand is high.

Putin pointed out that Europe is only concealing its own mistakes, and over the past decade, the European energy sector has gradually buried systemic flaws, leading to a large-scale crisis in the current European energy market.