Europe Braces For First Cold Winter Blast With Gas Prices Set To Spike Again
After months of rollercoaster moves in European nat gas prices as energy producers and traders jockeyed for position ahead of what could be a brutal winter, all bets are now off as Europe is set to get its first cold blast of the winter season, putting the continent’s already scant energy supplies under pressure.
According to Bloomberg, temperatures are set to slide starting next week, with parts of Italy forecast to experience weather as much as 2 degrees Celsius below normal. Southern France, Spain and Germany are also forecast to be colder-than-usual, according to The Weather Company. Centrica, the U.K.’s top energy supplier, warned its 9 million customers to prepare for an icy blast that could last as long as six weeks.
Europe, whose nat gas inventories in storage are near record lows for this time of the year due to the continent’s catastrophic fossil fuel policies and scramble to promote green energy at all costs even though it is nowhere near read to take the reins from legacy energy, will be particularly sensitive to cold snaps in the coming months, with gas prices up for a second week after surging to records in October. Extra supplies promised by Russia have so far been negligible and Norwegian flows have been reduced because of heavy maintenance.
“This is going to test the energy supplies across Europe,” said Tyler Roys, lead European forecaster at AccuWeather Inc.
A high pressure system could also bring more northerly and colder air flows over central and southern Europe by the end of the month, said Carlo Cafaro, a senior research analyst and meteorologist at Marex.
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