Europe’s gas prices reach pre-war levels amid unusually warm weather

Europe’s fuel costs have reached pre-war ranges as the brand new yr begins below unusually heat temperatures which have tamed shopper demand and fended off the necessity to faucet into underground storage.

Buying and selling on the Dutch Title Switch Facility (TTF), Europe’s main hub, closed on Wednesday at €65 per megawatt-hour (MWh) for deliveries scheduled for February.

The final time fuel costs on the TTF fell beneath the €70 MWh threshold was 16 February, eight days earlier than Russia launched the invasion of Ukraine, after they hit €69.5 MWh

For the reason that begin of the struggle, the TTF has gone by excessive ups and downs, culminating in an all-time excessive of €342 MWh in late August. After that peak, fuel costs entered a sluggish however regular path of stabilisation, though they continue to be exceptionally elevated.

The downward pattern affords a respite for European households and corporations, which have for months struggled to deal with unstable and unpredictable vitality payments.

The information comes as 2023 brings record-breaking winter temperatures throughout the continent, a phenomenon that consultants stated suits into the broader sample of human-caused local weather change.

Germany, Poland, Hungary, Denmark, the Netherlands, France and Switzerland are among the many international locations experiencing terribly balmy climate, forcing some ski resorts to shut down.

Residents of San Sebastián, in northern Spain, had been this week photographed sunbathing by the seaside, whereas the Czech Republic registered 19 levels Celsius.

The atmospheric circumstances have curbed heating use and guarded emergency shares.

Underground fuel storage within the European Union, which is supposed to cowl the rise in demand throughout winter, is presently at 83% of complete capability.

“It is a pretty good place to be in right now of the yr,” stated a European Fee spokesperson on Wednesday.

“Because of the delicate climate that we have skilled, there was decrease demand than in earlier years. And people shares have remained at a excessive degree. I believe that is had a chilled impact in the marketplace and lowered volatility and pushed down costs.”

Regardless of the respite, fuel continues to be billed at abnormally excessive costs.

In January 2021, Europeans had been paying over €17 MWh for his or her fuel provides, nearly 4 occasions less expensive than Wednesday’s buying and selling.

The European Fee has warned excessive vitality costs have change into a structural aspect of the European – and world – financial system as a result of a persistent supply-demand mismatch that was triggered by the lifting of COVID-19 lockdowns and was later exacerbated by Russia’s struggle in Ukraine.

This new regular has led the Fee and EU member states to closely promote vitality financial savings as essentially the most highly effective software to manage spiralling costs.

The bloc has established unprecedented plans to cut back fuel and electrical energy consumption in a bid to re-balance provide and demand, along with a hard-fought cap on fuel costs, which shall be activated solely when the TTF exceeds €180 MWh for 3 consecutive working days.

“Demand discount is vital right here,” Simone Tagliapietra, a senior fellow at Bruegel, a Brussels-based suppose tank, instructed Euronews.

Tagliapietra welcomed the current drop in fuel costs however harassed that Europe ought to have “no area for complacency” as a chilly snap may arrive in a single day and drive costs additional up.

“It is about temperatures,” the analyst stated. “And storage not getting used however truly refilled.”