European Gas Falls Below €50 as Historic Energy Crisis Recedes
- Prices are still about double usual levels for time of year
- Gas may halt slide if becomes attractive for power generation
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European natural gas futures settled below €50 a megawatt-hour for the first time in over 17 months as the region’s worst energy crisis in decades recedes — though there are signs further price declines are unlikely.
Futures have plunged by more than 80% from their August peak when Russia’s gas cuts hit Europe with about $1 trillion in energy costs, hammering the region’s economy and pushing inflation to the highest in decades. Now, the continent is seeing a sharp turnaround as relatively mild weather, efforts to reduce fuel consumption and strong inflows of liquefied natural gas from the US to Qatar take the edge off.