On the commodity exchange in Amsterdam, the futures contract for natural gas deliveries next month rose almost 22 percent to 194:50 euros per megawatt hour.
The price increase comes on top of the 10 percent price increase on Monday, which was an effect of the Russian gas monopoly Gazprom announcing that from Wednesday it will reduce the flow of natural gas through the Nord Stream 1 gas pipeline to around 20 percent of capacity.
This means that 33 million cubic meters of gas will be pumped per day from Wednesday, according to Gazprom, which refers to technical problems with turbines.
The rapidly rising energy prices have already hit industrial production and raised household energy bills to previously unimaginable levels, which has been a decisive driving force in lifting inflation to historically high levels.
Should gas supplies from Russia be completely cut off, experts expect significantly higher prices for natural gas, which is used both in industrial production and to produce electricity and heat for households in many European countries.
Goldman Sachs economists warn of natural gas prices upwards of 210 euros per megawatt hour, if the Russian gas is not available. Should the delivery volume be increased to 40 percent of Nord Stream 1’s capacity again – to where the level was lowered earlier this summer – the price would fall to 170 euros, according to Goldman Sachs.