European gas prices decline as Russia-Ukraine tensions abate

ANKARA – Natural gas prices in Europe started to decline on Wednesday after Russia announced a partial withdrawal of troops from the Ukrainian border.

Natural gas prices for March future contracts, traded on the TTF, the Netherlands-based virtual natural gas trading point, reached as high as €83.60 (€1 equals 15.51 Turkish liras) on Tuesday.

Natural gas was trading at €68.50 on Wednesday, with a 15-percent decrease after closing the previous session at €80.77.

Europe imports approximately 40 percent of its natural gas needs from Russia, equivalent to 175 billion cubic meters.

International benchmark Brent similarly declined as tensions eased between Russia and Ukraine.

Brent crude was trading at $94.37 per barrel at 0815 GMT on Wednesday for a 1.96-percent drop, having reached $96.26 a barrel in the previous session.