European gas jumps as Vladimir Putin casts doubts on new deal

European natural gas advanced after Russian President Vladimir Putin cast further doubt on the likelihood of a deal to maintain flows to Europe via Ukraine.

Benchmark futures jumped as much as 5% Friday, the most in a week. Putin said Thursday it would be impossible to arrange a new transit contract before year's end, when the current agreement expires.

Central European nations that still buy Russian gas have floated alternative solutions to keep the fuel flowing across Ukraine, but President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has rejected any arrangement that sends money to Russian coffers while the war continues.


Putin acknowledged that the various proposals on the table - allowing Hungary, Slovakia, Turkey or Azerbaijan to take control of the gas shipped via Ukraine-are difficult to realise because Gazprom PJSC has long-term contracts that are hard to change.

The flows at risk account for about 5% of European demand. While that's a small slice of the market, the loss of those volumes would force countries to rely more heavily on piped gas from Norway or liquefied supplies from the US. Traders in Europe are closely monitoring the region's gas storage, with levels now below 75%.