Dutch front-month futures, were 0.2% lower at €66.80 a megawatt-hour by 8:58 a.m. in Amsterdam, after rising as much as 3.1% earlier.

Dutch front-month futures, Europe’s gas benchmark, were 2.8% lower at €59 a megawatt-hour by 8:29 a.m. in Amsterdam.

The region’s storage sites are around 81% full, some 20 percentage points above the five-year average. That’s providing confidence that Europe will end the winter with inventories over 50% and “more than enough gas to completely replenish its storage by the start of next winter,”

Gas prices may have dropped, but are still almost double their five-year average for the time of year.

Vladimir Putin had a telephone conversation with President of the Islamic Republic of Iran Ebrahim Raisi.

Russia said Dec. 28 it will ban crude supplies to countries that observe the G7's $60/b price cap from Feb. 1 for five months. The retaliatory move, which applies at all stages of supply to the final buyer, had been widely flagged by Russia and expected by the global oil market.

Russia and Iran, under tremendous pressure from sanctions, are turning toward each other—and they’re both looking eastward, too.

Countries led by Germany, the Netherlands and Denmark are calling for a cautious approach, while a group including Belgium, Italy, Greece and Poland is pushing for a more aggressive tool to contain gas prices.

Seaborne exports of Russian crude averaged 3.07 million b/d in November, down from 3.09 million b/d in October and just below the pre-war average of 3.1 million b/d in January and February.

Russia gradually choked its gas supply to Europe through 2022, ending deliveries via Yamal-Europe and Nord Stream, and sharply cutting exports via Ukraine.

Russia is traditionally among the world’s top three coal exporters, though the industry accounts for just a sliver of the Russian economy.

In June the EU announced that, come December 5th, it would ban imports of Russian seaborne crude oil, which accounted for 2m barrels per day (b/d), or about 40% of Russia’s total crude exports, a year ago.

Failure to reach a deal would send a signal that the EU’s united response to the war-driven energy crisis is falling apart -- a political gift for Moscow that Europe is keen to avoid.

С обеих сторон дана положительная оценка совместной с участием России и Ирака работе в рамках «ОПЕК плюс», позволяющей обеспечивать стабильность мирового нефтяного рынка.

Exceptionally mild weather across Northwest Europe since October has led to a sharp drop in gas prices from record levels over the summer.