Warm weather has caused gas prices to plunge in Europe to below pre-war levels.

Gas prices in Europe have fallen below the level observed before Russia’s war in Ukraine. The price at the TTF hub in the Netherlands fell by another 10% on December 23 to €83/MWh (about $920 per 1,000 cubic meters), according to the ICE exchange. Current weather forecasts show that temperatures in Europe will be above average by the year’s end, leading to further price declines. Gas continues to be extracted from European underground storage, but the withdrawal rate is currently around 450 million cubic meters per day, more than 100 million cubic meters per day less than a week ago. Storage capacity in Great Britain is 68%, France’s 84%, and Germany’s 87%. In addition, the EU continues to import significant volumes of LNG to keep the gas reserves at high levels in response to the energy crisis.