On the calendar, winter is not over but that does not prevent the price of gas in Europe from continuing its descent to the point of reaching its lowest level since August 2021. On Thursday, the TTF futures contract Dutch, the main reference on the Old Continent, traded at 41.16 euros per megawatt hour (MWh).
It still posted 75 euros in January, a drop of nearly 40%.
In December, it was 150 euros, while the peak, at the height of the outbreak, exceeded 310 euros per MWh in August.
Even if, in recent weeks, temperatures in Europe have been rather below normal for the season, the winter has turned out to be exceptionally mild.
This has enabled the various Member States to preserve their gas reserves by reducing the demand for heating, the main item of consumption for individuals.
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These meteorological circumstances come on top of a real sobriety effort made across the continent.
In some cases, companies have reduced their use of gas, constrained by the explosion in prices.
Still, gas consumption in the European Union fell by 19.3% between August and January, compared to the average consumption over the same period over the previous five years, according to Eurostat.
Gas prices had started to rise as early as the summer of 2021, six months before the Russian attack on Ukraine.
Gazprom then gradually reduced its deliveries to Europe.
Despite this lull in prices, the European Commissioner for Energy, Kadri Simson, on Thursday called on Europeans to be vigilant: she encourages them to continue their reduction in consumption, judging that "this year will be difficult and the following year
too
and that
“many uncertainties remain”
.