Natural gas, petrol prices could jump if Russia-Ukraine conflict worsens

The escalating conflict between Russia and Ukraine pushed the prices of oil and natural gas. Petrol prices will likely rise further as a result, consumer collective United Consumers believes. The suggested retail price for a liter of Euro95 could reach 2.20 euros, Paul van Selms of the organization said to RTL Nieuws.

Minister Rob Jetten (Energy and Climate) said on Wednesday that it is hard to predict what will happen to the gas price for Netherlands residents if the conflict between Russia and Ukraine escalates further. The Cabinet is "continuously" monitoring the energy market and is in contact with neighboring countries about energy prices, he said before a parliamentary debate on the Cabinet's climate plans.

Jetten stressed that the Netherlands currently has sufficient gas reserves to supply households and hospitals and that that is not something that people have to worry about right now. In the spring, the Cabinet will look at households' purchasing power, and whether the sharply increased energy bill needs more compensation, he said.

According to Jetten, Europe currently imports about 25 percent of its gas from Russia. He doesn't expect that the EU sanctions will push Moscow to cut off gas supplies to Europe completely because Russia is also dependent on those revenues, he said.

But that prices will increase seems inevitable, according to United Consumers. The price of Brent oil jumped 4.5 percent to over 97 dollars on Tuesday after Russia recognized renegade Ukrainian regions Donetsk and Luhansk as independent states. That is the highest level since September 2014, in the wake of Russia's occupation of Crimea earlier that year.

The gas price on the Dutch market, which is leading for European gas prices, jumped about 5 percent on Tuesday to about 77 euros per megawatt-hour, according to RTL Nieuws.