The price of natural gas in the European market has set yet another record, exceeding $730 per thousand cubic meters, trading data shows. The commodity now costs five times its 2020 price.
The price of October gas futures at the launch of the Monday trading session was $713.10 per thousand cubic meters, jumping to $728.20 by 7:30 GMT and quickly reaching $730.10 a little after that, the Dutch TTF index shows. The previous gas price record on the European market was set last Friday, when it reached $710 per thousand cubic meters by the end of the trading day.
In household terms, this means the fossil fuel’s price now edges toward $60 per megawatt-hour, having increased fivefold since last year. Gas prices have surged largely because the European market is severely short-supplied at the moment, with storage levels well below their five-year average. This is coupled with increased demand amid the post-pandemic recovery and a recent drop in deliveries from its key supply sources, including Russia, partly as a result of lower flows through Ukraine.
Experts say the worst is yet to come, as demand for natural gas at this time of year is still low. According to a Bloomberg analysis, Europe is headed for a very difficult winter, with prices likely to hit unprecedented highs in the near future.
However, the situation may change when Russia starts its gas deliveries to the European market via the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, designed to carry some 55 billion cubic meters of gas per year from the Siberian gas fields in Russia across the Baltic Sea to Europe. The pipeline’s construction was completed last week, with the exact timeframe for the start of gas deliveries now depending only on the certification process, which has already begun.
Russia’s Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Friday that the timing was now being decided by regulators in Germany, where the pipeline’s underwater link terminates.
”We expect that millions of European consumers in the near future will be able to receive Russian gas along the shortest, most economical and environmentally friendly route,” she said.
The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) projects rising fuel consumption next year, with global oil demand expected to grow by 4.2 million barrels per day (bpd).
Total oil demand in 2022 will reach 100.8 million bpd, which is higher than pre-pandemic levels, OPEC said in its monthly September report.
“The recovery in demand for all types of fuel is expected to be stronger and supported by stable economic growth in all regions,” OPEC stated.
The forecast figure for next year’s oil demand is 0.9 million bpd higher than the estimate posted by the organization in August.
The report says the growth in global demand for oil for the remainder of 2021 will amount to six million bpd. The forecast for oil demand in the second half of the year was reduced due to the renewed spread of coronavirus infection, and in particular the Delta variant.
OPEC noted, however, that demand for the commodity in the third quarter of this year was stable amid growing population mobility, especially in the member-states of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).
In general, OPEC expects oil demand in 2021 to recover to the level of 96.7 million bpd. It also noted that it expects a growth in supply on the oil market for the remainder of the year, amounting to some 900,000 barrels per day, boosting the supply total up to 63.8 million barrels per day. This will happen amid increased production in Canada, Russia, China, USA, Brazil, and Norway.
China continues to lead global growth in the next generation of telecommunications technology with the expansion of the country’s 5G network, according to the Minister of Industry and Information Technology Xiao Yaqing.
“China has built more than one million 5G base stations, which is over 70% of the world market. The number of 5G users has exceeded 400 million, which is the largest user group in the world,” the official said, as quoted by Xinhua news agency.
According to the ministry’s forecast, the number of 5G subscribers in the country will exceed 560 million by 2023, or nearly 40% of the total number of mobile users in the country.
Earlier, the ministry also said that China ranks first in the number of patents related to 5G communication technologies.
China’s leading mobile operators began providing fifth-generation communication services to their customers in October 2019. Throughout 2020, some 580,000 5G base stations were installed in the country, with the network covering all major cities. Beijing plans to install over 600,000 new stations by the end of the year.
While many countries around the globe are only starting to embrace 5G technology, Chinese tech giant Huawei recently announced plans to roll out its successor 6G network, which it aims to introduce to the market by 2030.
The Russian ruble has become one of the 20 most frequently used global currencies, SWIFT interbank transfer system data shows.
The ruble holds the 20th spot with a share of 0.18% in international settlements. It’s not the first time that the ruble has made the top 20. The Russian national currency appeared in the rating in December 2016, also in 20th place, with a share of 0.26%.
The most popular global currency is predictably the US dollar with a 39.38% share, followed closely by the euro with 38.43%. In third place and far behind the first two is the British pound sterling with 5.99%.
The top five also included the Japanese yen (2.74%) and the Chinese yuan (2.19%).
Russia has been actively promoting its national currency as a means of international settlement with its trading partners, moving away from transactions in the US dollar.
The ruble’s share in Russia’s bilateral trade with China has seen a rise from 1% in 2013 to 5.7% in 2020. Also, according to Russia’s newly released 10-year financial market development strategy, Moscow is aiming to step up efforts to boost the share of its national currency in settlements with international partners.
As many countries worldwide have recently been ditching the US dollar, its decreasing percentage in the total volume of international payments has been making room for other currencies. Therefore, “taking into account the relatively small current share of the ruble in international settlements, even a slight change in the indicators of more prominent currencies can significantly affect the place of the ruble in the rating,” Dmitry Babin, investment expert from BCS World of Investments, told RIA Novosti.
“Nevertheless, it is unlikely that in the foreseeable future the dollar and the euro will significantly reduce their participation in global transactions since the economies of the US and EU remain large and diversified enough to maintain the global status of their currencies,” he stated.
The Laos government has approved a pilot program on the experimental use of cryptocurrency mining and trading in the country for six companies, the Laotian Times newspaper reported on Monday.
According to a statement issued by the country’s prime ministers’ office, four construction companies, an IT company and the state-owned JDB bank were granted permission to mine and trade cryptocurrency. The six firms are allowed to conduct transactions using bitcoin and litecoin.
Also, the Laos government has instructed a number of regulators, including the central bank, to develop standards for the use of cryptocurrency in the country.
Prime Minister Phankham Vipkhavanh is scheduled to hold a working meeting with the government later this week to discuss the potential of using cryptocurrency in the republic.
The move towards embracing cryptocurrencies is in stark contrast with earlier statements from Laos officials. In August, the central bank issued a notice warning citizens against using cryptocurrencies, including bitcoin, ethereum and litecoin, stressing that they are not connected to actual currency reserves and are not regulated by the country’s legislation, which makes them highly volatile and dangerous.
According to the notice, Laotians are prohibited by law from purchasing or selling cryptocurrencies, and those who don’t comply were urged to consider the risks associated with digital assets before making any investment or purchasing such products.
Laos follows in the footsteps of El Salvador and Cuba, which recently allowed the use of cryptocurrencies at the state level.
