Stockpiles of %NaturalGas across Europe have risen following a mild winter, leaving the continent with plenty of excess supply for next season.
The excess supply has helped to push European gas prices down to levels not seen since before Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022.
In fact, natural gas prices across Europe are now at a three-year low due to mild weather and a lack of demand among industry.
Europe’s gas stores are currently 59% full, a record high for this time of year, according to data from Infrastructure Europe.
However, a deal signed in 2019 that has allowed Russian gas to flow through Ukraine to the rest of Europe is set to expire at the end of this year, raising uncertainty about future supply.
Ukraine’s government has said that it does not plan to extend the current deal related to Russian natural gas flows.
European countries aim to have their natural gas storage sites 90% full by Nov. 1 to prepare for the cold winter months. Gas remains a major heating fuel across the continent.
The countries most vulnerable to the gas deal with Ukraine expiring are Austria and Slovakia as they import a large amount of their gas from Russia via transit through Ukraine.
To mitigate potential disruptions, the European Union has ramped up imports of liquefied natural gas (%LNG) from the U.S., which met almost 14% of Europe’s gas demand over the past year.
To date, European countries have avoided applying sanctions to imports of Russian natural gas and LNG, on which countries such as Austria and Hungary are dependent.
