Gas prices in Europe continue to fall

Against the backdrop of significant gas reserves in European storage, prices at the TTF hub in the Netherlands fell by 1.7%.

According to the Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), gas futures at the TTF hub in the Netherlands fell 1.7% to €29.97/megawatt-hour, corresponding to a price of $350/thousand cubic meters.

Bloomberg experts believe that low demand after last year's energy crisis, the high cost of gas storage and significant storage stocks are increasing pressure on prices.

Gas storage in the EU is more than 87% full, which is almost in line with the bloc's mandatory target of 90%, which must be met by November. Some countries, notably Spain and the Netherlands, have already exceeded this level, while Italy and Germany are only approaching it.

France has the lowest volume of gas storage reserves in the EU. They are only 78% full, as at the beginning of the year gas supply to the country was stopped for several weeks due to nationwide strikes. However, gas reserves are not inferior to the long-term average annual indicators, they are just slightly lower than in other EU countries, which are ahead of the accumulation schedules.

But problems with the supply of gas to the EU remain, especially after the reduction of liquefied natural gas imports to the lowest level since 2021. Exports of super-cooled gas from the US are currently more profitable for Asia than for Europe in September, October and November. In addition, global LNG supplies may decrease in August.