The decrease is the result of electricity and natural gas becoming cheaper on the wholesale markets. Natural gas in particular has become significantly cheaper on the futures markets in the past month, under the influence of mild temperatures and sufficient stocks.
Will that change with the cold outside? Perhaps not for now. There is optimism that Europe will get through the winter without gas shortages or extreme price spikes. Stocks barely needed to be used thanks to mild temperatures and the supply of liquefied natural gas (LNG) to replace Russian gas.
On the leading Dutch futures market, the price for a megawatt hour of gas fell sharply this morning, by more than 10 percent to below 60 euros. That is the lowest level since September 2021. Since the beginning of this year, the price has already fallen 22 percent and since December it has more than halved.
Stocks in China also appear to be full, which means that ships can sail to Europe with LNG.
