Russian gas export monopoly Gazprom is struggling to meet extra demand from European customers shivering through a severe cold snap, even after ramping up investment and borrowing to boost output.

 

"Some requests are higher than we can put in the pipe," a company source told Reuters. "Requests for gas have been higher for more than a week."

 

Gazprom supplies around a quarter of Europe's gas and cuts to deliveries in the past, mainly over pricing rows with transit countries such as Ukraine, have raised concerns over the security of supply from Russia.

 

Gas industry officials in Europe said stored supplies and imports from Russia and Norway were meeting the spike in demand for heating.

 

Some countries had to prioritize gas supplies. Poland’s PGNiG decided to temporarily cut the gas to a refinery and two fertilizer factories yesterday in order to meet peak demand in the country.