Gas prices decreased by approximately 1% in Europe

The cost of gas futures in Europe on Friday is reduced by almost 1% and is kept in the region of 475 dollars per thousand cubic meters, following from the data of the London ICE exchange.

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May (nearest) futures on the TTF index (the largest hub in Europe, located in the Netherlands) opened trading at $486.1 (+1.5%) per thousand cubic meters.

And as of 10:27 Moscow time, the cost of gas is about $475 (-0.7%). The dynamics of quotations are based on the settlement price of the previous trading day – 478.8 dollars per thousand cubic meters.

Exchange prices for gas in Europe have dropped significantly since the end of last year. So, in early March, for the first time in more than a year and a half – since the end of July 2021 – they dropped to $450 per thousand cubic meters.

This is more than eight times lower than the record values of the first days of March last year – almost 3,900 dollars per thousand cubic meters.

The price of gas on the European exchange was reduced due to sufficient reserves in underground gas storage facilities in the European Union, as well as warm and windy weather and austerity measures, which significantly reduced gas consumption.

But despite the decline, gas quotes are about twice the average for a long history of observations. Such persistently high prices have not been seen in the entire history of the operation of gas hubs in Europe – since 1996.

Gas prices in the European market rose significantly in the spring of 2021. Then gas quotations for TTF fluctuated in the range of 250-300 dollars per thousand cubic meters, by the end of the summer they exceeded 600 dollars, and in the fall – already 1 thousand dollars.

In the winter of 2021-2022, prices crossed the threshold of $2,000 per thousand cubic meters, and in early spring, due to fears of a ban on the import of Russian energy resources, they reached a record high of $3,892 per thousand cubic meters.

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