"Already now we have the dynamics of the fourth quarter [of 2016], I mean the prices for oil and oil products, so from the evaluation of our gas contracts it is already possible to say with absolute certainty that the average prices of gas supplies to the European market will be higher in the first quarter [of 2017] than it is in the fourth [quarter of the current year]," Miller said on Friday.
According to the Gazprom CEO, the expected higher gas cost is in part due to the November decision of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) on limiting crude oil output by 1.2 million barrels per day (to 32.5 million barrels per day) starting from January 2017.
"The decisions that were recently adopted are no doubt decisions that will push in the direction of a rise of prices for hydrocarbons," Miller said pointing to a tendency of rising prices "in those contracts where the price [of gas] is tied to oil and petroleum products."
