Gas prices in Europe fell on Thursday, for the fifth day in a row, due to mild temperatures in much of the continent, coupled with sufficient supply: the benchmark price dropped to its lowest level since mid-June.
On the leading Dutch futures market, the price for a megawatt-hour of gas went down by more than 4% on Thursday morning, to €94.
There is less demand for natural gas now that an initial cold front is over. There is also a great deal of wind, which means wind turbines are providing more power, so less electricity needs to be generated with natural gas.
There is also the end-of-year period, when industry traditionally runs at a slower pace and consequently, there is less need for gas from the companies.
Moreover, there is sufficient supply. A fleet of tankers with liquefied natural gas (lng) on board is on its way to Europe.
Nevertheless, the prices of natural gas are still many times higher than before the energy crisis, and the market remains tight now that Europe wants to get rid of Russian gas.
For liquified natural gas (lng), moreover, there is competition from Asia.
Shell on Thursday shut down production at a giant floating lng terminal off the coast of Australia after a fire.
