Natural gas prices in Europe fell at the end of trading last Friday to their lowest levels in 7 months due to abundant supply because of the expected warm weather during the holiday season, while oil prices rose in the markets.

The price of gas on the Amsterdam Exchange reached about 83 euros per megawatt/hour. The increase in liquefied gas stocks and the slowdown in industrial demand also contributed to pushing prices down.

Markets are also awaiting the impact of the winter storm in the United States on US liquefied gas supplies.

The European Union countries approved last week a price cap on Russian gas that can be activated if prices rise to 180 euros per megawatt/hour for 3 days.

This cap is also scheduled to come into effect on February 15.

In energy markets, oil prices also rose by about 3 dollars at the close of trading at the end of last week, achieving gains for the second consecutive week.

Brent crude rose $2.94, or 3.6%, at the close to $83.92 per barrel.

US West Texas Intermediate crude also rose $2.07, or 2.7%, to $79.56 per barrel at the close.

This rise comes after Russia said it may cut crude production by between 5% and 7% early next year in response to the price cap imposed by Western countries on Russian oil transported by sea at $60 per barrel.

Brent crude achieved gains of about 6.2% over the week, while West Texas crude achieved weekly gains of more than 7%.