Is Europe suddenly winning the gas war with Russia?
Prices have dropped by almost 65 per cent since hitting an all-time peak in August. Storage caverns across the continent are filled to bursting point ready to supply homes and industry this winter. Even seaborne liquefied natural gas tankers, which desperate buyers had to fight to pry away from Asia, are now so plentiful there are traffic jams forming outside European terminals as they wait to unload.
After months of fearing a winter beset by shortages and misery caused by Russia’s weaponisation of gas supplies, most traders will cautiously concede that Europe’s fortunes have improved. Warmer-than-normal weather in the past few weeks has delayed the start of heating season, leaving a bigger buffer of gas for the winter months, while European businesses have cut consumption sharply.