Cold weather and subdued supplies of natural gas from Russia could mean that Europe will depend on the record low level of this raw material in its storage facilities at the end of this winter.
This would mean, among other things, that natural gas will remain expensive for longer than originally expected. Natural gas prices have been rising in recent days to record levels in October this year. The megawatt-hour was sold on the Dutch stock exchange for about 120 euros, which is close to the historical maximum reached in October.
“We started the winter with the lowest stocks in the last few years and consumption in November was relatively high. This means that the market is worried about whether there will be enough gas in the coming months, “Alex Froley, a commodity analyst, told Reuters.
Reservoirs in the European Union are filled less than the ten-year average throughout this year. The highest occupancy occurred at the end of October, at only about 75 percent. The ten-year average at this time is around 90 percent. At the beginning of December, the occupancy rate of storage tanks in the EU decreased to 64 percent. The situation could be improved by the launch of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline, but according to some analysts, this should not happen until September 2022.
