OREANDA-NEWS Europe's complete rejection of Russian gas will lead to its rise in price, as well as to a struggle for the resource, says Vladimir Demidov, an independent expert on the oil and gas market. He described the possible consequences in an interview with Lenta.ru".

If Europe refuses Russian gas only for the current heating season, there will be no special shocks, since the season will end soon, the analyst believes.

"Usually in the middle of March, the storage facility switches to gas intake mode, that is, accumulation again. In addition, the current occupancy of gas storage facilities is more than 70 percent on average in Europe, which is very high when compared with the average occupancy in recent decades. That is, this year's winter season in Europe will pass without problems," he added. If Europe decides to abandon gas from Russia in principle, it will have to cope further, Demidov is convinced. The expert noted that Russia supplies about 80-90 billion cubic meters of gas there per year, both through the pipe and in the form of liquefied natural gas (LNG), while Europe itself consumes more than 400 billion. That is, it is about 15 percent of total consumption, he concluded.