Courtesy of Gazprom

Towards the end of the year, a number of European countries, including Poland, may have to pay record prices for natural gas purchased from Russia.

Russian gas producer Gazprom, which supplies much of Europe's natural gas, has indicated that the price could stand at $500 per 1,000 cubic meters, 50 percent more than in January 2011, Rzeczpospolita reports.

The potential for a significant price hike results from the calculation of long-term contract rates which are based on current oil prices. At present these stand at record highs of around $120 per barrel, the newspaper writes.

In April, the Russian gas giant increased sales of the natural resource to Europe compared to the same period of last year and even compared to individual months in the winter of 2011.

In total, Gazprom intends to sell a total of 151.5 billion cubic meters of gas this year, over 12 billion cubic meters more than last year.

Poland AM