(Bloomberg) -- European natural gas prices extended declines as mild weather and ample stockpiles ease concerns about shortages.
Benchmark futures declined as much as 6.4% to the lowest level since late July. Some forecasters see higher-than-normal temperatures in the UK and continental Europe in the next two weeks, which is likely to delay withdrawals from gas inventories for heating. It’s adding to signs that the region may be able to get through the winter even with dwindling Russian supply.
Reserves have filled at a steady pace through the summer as nations boosted imports of liquefied natural gas and pipeline supplies from Norway to make up for the loss of Russian flows. Storage sites were about 88% full on Saturday, just above the five-year average for this time of year. That has helped push gas prices down about 50% from the highs of end-August.
Still, questions remain about European nations’ ability of replenish those reserves after the end of winter. The continent typically depends on Russian gas to build stockpiles for the next year, and any disruptions to imports from elsewhere could make the restocking a difficult task.
Dutch front-month gas, a benchmark for Europe, fell 4.7% to 162 euros a megawatt-hour. It declined 10% on Monday.