NEW YORK, February 10. /TASS/. European natural gas prices have risen to a two-year high amid accelerated withdrawal of gas from the region’s storage facilities due to colder temperatures, Bloomberg wrote.
Benchmark futures added 5.4% on Monday to 58 euro a megawatt-hour, the highest since February 2023, the agency said, adding that contracts posted four consecutive weeks of gains.
Northwest Europe is bracing for freezing temperatures in the coming days, which is why market participants expects further growth of gas demand. Higher fuel consumption risks draining stockpiles further, which are already at their lowest for this time of year since the energy crisis in 2022. Inventories are only 49% full compared with 67% at the same time last year, Bloomberg said.
"The risk of the European Union entering the spring with very low gas inventories has increased in the last couple of weeks. Not only has the front month spiked, but we have also seen a rise in 2026-2027 calendar prices," Arne Lohmann Rasmussen, chief analyst at Global Risk Management, was quoted as saying.
In addition to the weather, traders are keeping a close eye on the impact of US tariffs and possible retaliations, the agency added.