MOSCOW: Russian energy giant Gazprom stands ready to increase natural gas supplies to Europe, Interfax news agency cited a Kremlin spokesman as saying on Sunday, amid a surge in gas prices.

Dmitry Peskov also said, according to the news agency, that Gazprom is interested in more gas supply contracts.

He was speaking about the low level of gas in storage across Europe.

“Is it possible to get more gas from Gazprom and pump it in there? It’s possible. Gazprom is ready. Moreover, it has already covered all the additional (supply) requests,” he was quoted as saying.

Russian gas giant Gazprom has been accused by the International Energy Agency (IEA) and some lawmakers in the European Parliament of not doing enough to increase its natural gas supplies to Europe, where gas prices have soared.

Peskov reiterated that Gazprom meets all the obligations on gas supplies.

“Is Gazprom ready for more, for signing more contracts? Gazprom is interested in it. That’s because our consumers in Europe are our main partners,” he said.

Benchmark European gas prices have risen more than 250% this year, leading to higher power prices and a knock on effect on industries reliant on gas for their production such as fertilizer plants.