I forgot - the quote is from
http://www.oilandglory.com/ 2009/01/russia-ukraine-market-dis pute.html
dated 03 Jan 2009.

So the market price in Europe is around 190 - 240 depending on the day...
In the USA, 183. Trend is... downward.

That is not correct, price in europe fluctuates around $350. And nobody can predict the price based on the trend. If you can share with us your logic on how trends work to accurately predict future price, we can start taking you seriously. If you just going to reference internet opinion pieces, you can stick your opinion when sun don\'t shine.

Russian boy

If nymex is 183, you think Putin blackmailing Europe for 450 is correct?

In Europe, natural gas prices follow oil, and Russia is clearly of the consensus view that oil will average somewhere in the neighborhood of $60 a barrel this year. That corresponds to a natural gas price of about $350 per 1,000 cubic meters. (Here\'s the loose formula to get the natural gas price: divide the oil price by six, then multiply the result by 35.3).

Gas at 35 equates to around $200.

Nice try at the usual Russian deception though...

May be you can explain why you quoted NYMEX too. And no, the market price for natural gas fluctuates around $350 in Europe.

If you know what oil and gas going to do during this year, please, let us know, we can become billionares. If you don\'t, it is just wishfull thinking on your part and not any kind of argument that can be taken seriously.

What a moron. Why don\'t you genius explain why the UK gas price is 70 p/term ($380/tcm), if UK is GAS PRODUCER?

What a dumb bell. EU imports 25% of it\'s gas from Russia. Why the rest 75% of the gas they produce have the same price they pay to Gasprom?

Speak moron, heh, heh, heh

Putin can put his greedy lips on my cold ass...

And the gas price is falling like a stone. Now 4.9 = 183 dollars on nymex. What are the Russians afraid of? Is Ukraine now going to sell it on at a lower price?! xi xi...
Suddenly 179.5 looks VERY CLOSE to the market price!!!

Kievboy, don\'t be a dumbass. NYMEX prices have little to do with Euripean prices as they are based on delivery in Luisiana from Pacific basin. Nice Try!

LOL!!

Only a russian could possibly concoct such utter nonesense! And then expect people to believe it!

LOL!!

Gazprom holds 51% stake in RosUkrEnergo. So, the russian governmetn is officially admitting that they have been stealing from themselves and charging a higher price??

LOL!! Have another swig from Putins bottle.

Gazprom still controls the price after it sells it cause it owns 50% of the company that sells gas in Ukraine. So really it is still Gazprom that raised the price. Interesting how the President of Russia says he feels so sad about this. What a lying russian pig

Naftogaz sells gas at different rates to different users depending upon their usage, needs and abilities to pay. This is common in other countries as well. Ukrainian Business users pay a premium which is used to subsidize the below market prices at which gas is provided to homes, most of whose occupants cannot afford market rates. Is there corruption? No doubt, and it exists just as much in Russia and elsewhere as in Ukraine but it is not a justification for Russia\'s actions and certainly does not demonstrate that Russia cares about the welfare of ordinary Ukrainian people.

Yo BK - get a reality check, amigo!
The proposed increase in gas prices for ukrainian homes would equate to about $30 per month.
Stop buying into the \"poor 3rd world ukrainians\" lie.
I have been permanently in ukraine since 1997 and since 03-04, I dont know of a single ukrainian (even pensioners) who dont have a nicer cell phone than mine, nicer TV than mine and newer car than mine.
Trust me - this is FIRST HAND knowledge. The very very few who could not possibly pay for the increase would & DO have folks around them to help.
They have been so brainwashed into believing that government handouts (aka socialism, like Obama & Hillary want in the States), that they have LONG lost the inner desire to WORK and WORK HARD to make money.
I have never seen in my life (and I have been on 3 continents) a more WASTED potential than what is right here in Ukraine.
When gasoline here went from .60 cents/liter to $1.30/liter, it didnt decrease the amount of traffic or gasoline sold at all.

hocked,

You clearly don\'t know many Ukrainians. But that\'s not surprising. They tend to steer clear of right-wing dullards like you.

It is a nonsense of \"FromUSAwithLove\" to tell that Europes economic success depends largley on Russian gaz.

The opposite is correct: Russia\'s so far economic success dependend extensivley on gaz.

Europe is depending on Russian gaz (a quarter), but if Russia stops, then Europe (I mean Western Europe) will find other sources, like nuclear plants.

Your point is well taken. But the fact that Russian government also receives revenues from Gas does not mean that \"The opposite is correct\". It is simply not true. Russian Federal govenment will find other means to finance itself if it has to. I beleive that people that own the oil and gas fields will not suffer if they can\'t sell gat to Europe and Ukraine so in reality only Europe will suffer the most if they stop buying gas from Russia.

Plus, I think that so many people own Gazprom stock that you can\'t allocate their profit to one or two people, or Kremlin, or any other organization. That stock is owned by huge number of people including people in NY, CA, London, Switzerland, Australia, and I can go on and on. Therefore, if you are against business, free markets, and open markets, you can go a be a spokesman against Gazprom. It is a business and they got to make money, plus, they vurtually have a monopoly. I think that those that buy their product at current price now are lucky.

LOL. What are they waiting for?

The truth is, the NPT have one very serious problem - the disposal of spent fuel. No wonder EU tries to shutt down NPP - there\'s no way for the EU to store the spent fuel and turn itself into a nuclear dump.

Second, the electricity do not substitutes the natural gas, but complements it. France is good example.

Third, the EU internal natural gas extraction is faltering so even England - a net natural gas producer rely on russian gas import. By 2020 the EU will DOUBLE it\'s gas imports from the current 30% of it\'s natural gas consumption to 60% of it\'s natural gas consumption.

Nabucco if operational will provide only 5% of the EU needs. Where will the rest 55% come from?

Europe\'s economic success largely depends on Russian gas as well, as many industries in Europe will find it hard to function without natural gas.

The best solution for this problem is for Russia and Ukraine to negotiate a permanent mechanism that that will determine sale price for next year. It could be a formula based on natural gas futures in Europe. Just like banks make formulas that determine interest rates based on some index. That will eliminate these yearly negotiation disputes.

With that said, I doubt that Ukraine would agree to such a contract, as that would tie the price to EU market price wich is proven to go up to a hefty price. The rumor that any Russian company has a 20 year contract to buy gas at a fixed price of $350/1000tcm is just that -- a rumor. If you push this rumor, provide credible reference to the source. If you can\'t provide reference to a credible source, you are just blowin hot air.

Guest....you have now frustrated me twice by waiting to be the last one in line to \"answer\". So I thought I would simply jump to the head of the line.

Firstly, as regards Russian \"subsidies\" of Ukrainian gas, let\'s get one thing straight. Ever since the orange revolution, Russian \"discounts\" are intended to serve very pragmatic commercial or political interests. There is no \"humanitarian\" intent.....you got what you bargained for, though its possible that you made some bad deals. Better luck in the future.

Secondly, don\'t believe everything Putin tells you. There\'s always been lots of bluff and bluster in Russian history. Putin is no exception. EU \"journalists\" are not known to get very \"nervous\" about these things - especially when Russians talk about their future commercial initiatives. There is a tremendous amount of known gas reserves in the Western hemisphere, so I doubt that you will see lots of customers. But I\'m sure that Cuba will sweeten Russian tea with its sugar.