Gas in Europe at its most expensive since 2022 – storage only 74.6% full
The TTF price has risen more than 230% since the start of the year. In Bulgaria, the regulator is reviewing a request for 34% more expensive gas in November today.
Graphic: TERRA WORLD NEWS (own graphic based on the sources listed)
Natural gas prices in Europe have reached their highest level since December 2022. According to Euronews, the Dutch TTF benchmark traded near 96 euros per megawatt hour on Monday and briefly touched 97.64 euros. At the start of January the price was about 28 euros – a rise of about 234%. Futures for the winter months are around 95 euros, compared with an average of about 36 euros last winter. No liquefied natural gas from the Middle East has arrived in the EU since May, and the ban on Russian LNG takes effect in January 2027.
EU gas storage was 74.6% full on Oct. 24, compared with 82.9% a year earlier, according to the Bruegel think tank. The IEEFA institute says this is the lowest level for the time of year since records began in 2011. Tom Marzec-Manser of consultancy Wood Mackenzie warned that storage levels could fall even lower in a cold winter. Ana Maria Jaller-Makarewicz of IEEFA called demand reduction "the biggest lever within Europe's control".
In Bulgaria, the Energy and Water Regulatory Commission (KEVR) is holding a public hearing on Wednesday on supplier Bulgargaz's request to raise the November gas price by 34%, from about 44 to 59 euros per megawatt hour. KEVR chair Plamen Mladenovski told broadcaster BNT the request would not be granted in its current form, but said an increase was likely because the country imports all of its gas.