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Deepa Venkateswaran, an analyst at Sanford C Bernstein Co LLC, said in a note that the relatively mild weather this winter in most of Europe has been fortuitous, with gas consumption down on seasonal averages and gas storage stocks remaining robust. Mild February will help Extend Europe s Gas Storage Buffer The cold spell next week signals the possibility of heavier withdrawals from the region's gas storage sites, though inventories are still over 73% full and well above average levels of the last five years. How low they get by the end of the winter will determine the severity of the energy crunch next summer and the following heating season.
Steady supplies have helped keep gas prices low in recent weeks. Russian gas transit through Ukraine went up from Tuesday, and natural gas flows are higher than usual for the time of the year. Following the invasion of Ukraine, the continued supply of LNG is key for Europe, which can no longer depend on Russia for pipeline gas. Traders are watching the progress on restarting the Freeport LNG plant in the US. Rehden, a major gas storage company in Germany, halted operations on Tuesday for three days after a deflagration at a flare. The security of supply hasn't been affected by the fact that it hasn't been affected, according to its operator. Dutch front-month futures, Europe's gas benchmark, were down 2.5% at €55.90 a megawatt-hour at 9: 34 a.m. in Amsterdam. The UK equivalent was down 1.4%.