International Energy Agency (IEA) chief Fatih Birol issued a warning to Europe, urging governments to remain prepared over a total shutdown of Russian gas exports this winter, the Financial Times (FT) reports.

Key quotes

“Europe should be ready in case Russian gas is completely cut off.”

“The nearer we are coming to winter, the more we understand Russia’s intentions.”

“I believe the cuts are geared towards avoiding Europe filling storage, and increasing Russia’s leverage in the winter months.”

“Emergency measures taken by European countries this week to reduce gas demand, such as firing up old coal-fired power stations, were justified by the scale of the crisis despite concerns about rising carbon emissions.”

Market reaction

Amid risk-off sentiment and broad US dollar demand, EUR/USD is extending its weakness, with the above comments adding to the EUR’s plight.

The pair is down 0.30% on the day at daily lows of 1.0493, as of writing.