European gas inventories and prices

With inventories accumulating much more slowly, market adjustment appears well underway already. Europe’s gas prices have stabilised in recent weeks after declining by more than 90% from the record high in August 2022. Europe’s gas storage is refilling much more slowly than usual as the drop in prices encourages more consumption by industrial users and power generators while diverting liquefied natural gas cargoes to Asia. Storage sites reached two-thirds full on May 24, which was 57 days earlier than the average since 2011, but that reflected the record volume of gas already in store at the end of the winter. […]