The price of European gas fell to its lowest level on Monday since June, as the European Union stepped up its efforts to compensate for the lack of Russian gas shipments, as several countries reported having more reserves than expected before the winter.
The futures contract for Dutch TTF gas, the reference natural gas in Europe, was traded at 137.20 euros per megawatt hour, at around 10.00 GMT (12.00 in Paris), after it had fallen to 131.10 euros, a level not recorded since the end of June. /June.
“Natural gas reserves are filling up faster than we thought a few months ago,” UBS financial analyst Giovanni Staunovo told AFP.
In Germany, the government announced on Friday evening that it had reached its goal of filling 95% of reserves, which would provide consumption for two months in the winter.
In order to compensate for the complete halt to Russian gas shipments, the government has adopted gas-saving measures that include increasing coal use and decreasing consumption of public buildings and urging companies to do so as well. Berlin devoted money to buying LNG.
On Tuesday, the European Commission will present new proposals to mitigate the rise in energy prices and will also review future contracts for Dutch TTF gas.
The European Union believes that the rise in the prices of the Dutch TTF gas futures contracts occurred due to speculation and investor anxiety, which led to “artificially” price inflation.
The price of a megawatt-hour is still twice what it was at the beginning of the year.
The Commission wants, within six months, to create an alternative indicator that is more representative of the reality of supplies and is effective for the next season to fill the reserves. So far, Brussels is recommending a “temporary mechanism” to correct prices.
Meanwhile, analysts are watching the weather to determine when Europeans will need to turn on the heating.
Analysts at energy resource trading group Energi Danmark point out that “recent mild temperatures mean that demand has not picked up yet.”
oil prices
On the oil level, the price of a barrel of Brent North Sea crude for delivery in December increased by 0.32% to $91.92, and the price of a barrel of West Texas Intermediate for delivery in November increased by 0.20% to $85.78.
Since the beginning of the month, crude oil prices have moved from a week of noticeable increases triggered by production cuts by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and its allies in the “OPEC Plus” to a week of decline.
And XTB analyst Walid Kodmani said that prices “may continue to fluctuate in the near future, because the uncertainty about the economy” affects prices.