Natural gas prices in Europe have surged to a two-year high amid colder weather, leading to a faster drawdown of gas from storage facilities.
This is reported by Bloomberg.
Europe is burning through its gas reserves faster than at any point in the last seven years – BloombergEuropean gas storage is being depleted at the quickest rate since 2018. Storage is currently filled to about 70 percent, compared to 86 percent at the same time last year.Benchmark gas futures rose by 4.1% on Monday to €58 per megawatt-hour, marking the highest level since February 2023.
Northwest Europe is preparing for freezing temperatures in the coming days, which will increase heating demand and could further drive up prices. Higher fuel consumption risks depleting reserves that are already at their lowest levels for this time of year since the energy crisis of 2022.
Currently, storage is only 49% full, compared to 67% at the same time last year. This indicates that it will be more challenging to replenish reserves during the warmer months.
"The risk that the European Union will enter spring with very low gas reserves has increased over the past couple of weeks," noted Arne Loman Rasmussen, chief analyst at Global Risk Management.
It is worth mentioning that it was previously reported that Europe is burning through its gas reserves faster than ever in the last seven years due to the cold weather.
President Volodymyr Zelensky stated that Ukraine plans to become a hub for supplying American liquefied natural gas to European Union countries.