Europe’s energy sector has taken another hit, as gas prices have soared as much as 30% higher today.
It comes after Russia said one of its main gas supply pipelines to Europe would stay shut indefinitely.
The news has added to fears of gas shortages as we approach the winter months in the European Union.
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The gas price spiked as high as €272 per megawatt hour (MWh) when the market opened on Monday.
Russia said on Friday that an oil leak in the vital Nord Stream 1 pipeline equipment meant it would stay shut during last week's three-day maintenance halt.
State energy firm Gazprom said that an oil leak in a turbine on the Nord Stream 1 pipeline was behind the closure.
The Dutch TTF October gas contract had eased to €256, up 23% on the day by 7.30am but almost 400% higher than a year ago.
News of the pipeline’s indefinite closure on Friday caused the euro to sink below the dollar to $0.99 on Monday — its lowest level in 20 years.
The Nord Stream pipeline runs under the Baltic Sea to Germany, and historically supplied about a third of the gas Russia exported to Europe.
The pipeline was already running at just 20% of capacity before flows were halted last week for maintenance.
The hike in gas prices has already crippled struggling consumers and has forced some industries to stop production.
The Nord Stream 1 announcement came just hours after G7 nations agreed on Friday to cap the price at which Russia can sell its oil.
The cap is a bid to limit revenue that the Kremlin is using to fund its war in Ukraine.
Europe has accused Russia of weaponising the energy supplies in response to sanctions imposed on Russia over its invasion of Ukraine, which Russia has vehemently denied.
Moscow has blamed Western countries for the decision not to reopen the Nord Stream 1 pipeline.
Russia has warned that it will not resume gas supplies along a key pipeline to Europe until sanctions are lifted.
On Monday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov blamed the sanctions, and told Reuters: "Problems with gas supply arose because of the sanctions imposed on our country by Western states, including Germany and Britain.”
Mr Peskov added: “There are no other reasons that lead to problems with supplies.”
Several EU countries have emergency plans that could lead to gas rationing and increase the prospect for a recession.
While Ireland is not dependent on Nord Stream 1, the move has driven up the overall price of wholesale gas.
Reuters were shown a document that revealed EU countries' energy ministers are due to meet on September 9.
Energy ministers are to discuss options to rein in soaring energy prices including gas price caps and emergency credit lines.
Some energy-intensive industries in Europe, such as fertiliser makers and aluminium producers, have already scaled back production.
Norway, a major European producer, has been pumping more gas into European markets but cannot fill the gap left by Russia.
President of Germany's Federal Network Agency energy regulator, Klaus Muller said in August that even if Germany's gas stores were 100% full, they would be empty in 2 months if Russian gas flows were halted completely.
Germany's storage facilities are now about 85% full, while facilities across Europe hit an 80% target last week.
Ireland sources around one-quarter of its gas from the Corrib gas field, and three-quarters via the UK.
Back in July, Climate Change Advisory Council Member Professor John Fitzgerald told RTÉ's Morning Ireland that “Ireland gets 30% of our gas from Corrib, the other 70% comes from Britain or through Britain from Norway."
Mr Fitzgerald added: "So we're not directly affected" by the Russian pipeline being shut down."
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