Every week NU.nl provides an overview of the development of gas prices, consumption and filling of gas storage facilities in the Netherlands. These are last week’s numbers in three charts.
Gas consumption dropped sharply last week. On average, we consumed 775 gigawatt hours a day between December 22nd and 28th. That’s less than half of the 1,579 gigawatt hours we used two weeks earlier. It was very cold then, while last week it was relatively warm.
Compared to the same period of the previous three years, consumption was also significantly lower last week: -40%. For months we burned tens of percent less gas than usual. Only the first half of December was an exception, due to the cold weather at the beginning of this month.
Partly due to the warm weather – which will probably last for a while longer – the price of gas has fallen sharply. Traders paid off Wednesday, the benchmark moment of the latter gas update, 81.35 euros for one megawatt hour. This is the lowest point since Russia invaded Ukraine in February.
However, it is still relatively high compared to previous years. For a long time, less than two tenners were paid for a megawatt-hour.
Dutch gas supply decreased slightly again last week. The four warehouses are on average 77% full. Just under 78.1 percent a week earlier. Stocks should be large enough to last through the winter. Although in the coming months it will be much colder again.
However, there is fear for the coming winter. Replenishing stocks has been relatively easy in the run-up to this winter as Russia still supplied some gas and China bought less due to the coronavirus lockdown. In the run-up to next winter, Russia will probably supply little or no gas to Europe and China will probably want to buy a lot of it.
