ING’s Warren Patterson and Ewa Manthey report that EU Natural gas storage has risen above 40% but remains well below the five-year average. With peace talks stalling and LNG disruptions from the Middle East, they see rising risks of tighter supply into winter. The Dutch government’s subsidy for EBN Capital aims to incentivize storage refilling despite market backwardation.

EU storage lags five-year norms

"EU gas storage has finally broken above 40% full, though it remains well below the 5-year average of 54% full."

"With progress in peace talks stalling, concerns will grow over prolonged disruptions to LNG supply from the Middle East."

"The longer this continues, the more likely Asian buyers will need to enter the spot market to cover disrupted contracted volumes."

"Highlighting concerns over supply, the Dutch government has approved almost a EUR1bn subsidy for EBN Capital, a state-owned energy company, to refill storage."

"Currently, the backwardation in the European natural gas market provides little incentive for players to refill storage ahead of the winter months."

(This article was created with the help of an Artificial Intelligence tool and reviewed by an editor.)