Gazprom cutting off Netherlands will impact gas reserve plan, minister says

Gazprom's decision to partially stop supplying gas to the Netherlands will make it more challenging to fill the Dutch gas stocks for next winter, Minister Rob Jetten for Climate and Energy said to NOS. The decision will cause further turmoil in the international gas market, which may result in companies responsible for filling the gas storage being unable to meet their obligations. 

Jetten hopes that the storage installations will be sufficiently filled in time with liquified gas from other countries. He will provide more clarity on this point soon, he said. 

Gazprom stopped supplying gas trader GasTerra, which is half-owned by the Dutch State, with gas on Monday afternoon. GasTerra refused to comply with Gazprom's requirement to pay in rubles. The Russian company was supposed to supply 2 billion cubic meters of gas in the next four months. 

Jetten said he supports GasTerra's refusal to pay in rubles and that the company managed to secure enough gas elsewhere to make up for Gazprom cutting it off. Therefore, households won't even notice the change, and companies shouldn't either. He called Gazprom's move a "new eye-opener that we have been too dependent on Russian gas. And it underlines once again the importance of the transition to renewable energy."

Energy expert Lucia van Geuns agreed that 2 billion cubic meters of gas is not a lot. The Netherlands can easily compensate for it by turning to other sources or countries. Russia uses this tactic to create uncertainty, Van Geuns said to NOS. "These are pinpricks that Russia is administering to Europe: first Bulgaria, Poland, and Finland. And now the Netherlands," they said. "The quantities are relatively small, but it still causes turmoil in the market."