European Gas Falls Further on Declining Demand and Growing Stocks

European natural gas fell for a fourth day as a recent record surge dampened demand, while rapidly filling storage space is helping to ease some concerns over Russian supplies.

Benchmark futures fell as much as 7.2%, nearly a third off last week's highs. European Union stockpiles are filling about two months ahead of schedule, eliminating the risk that Moscow will keep shipments at minimal levels even after the end of a three-day maintenance shutdown of the crucial Nord Stream pipeline that began on Wednesday. A European official on Thursday warned of more supply disruptions from Russia. Even if gas flows stop after September, the storage backlog could reduce "risk perception" if demand remains constrained by 10% and liquefied natural gas imports remain strong, according to Citigroup Inc. Fuel consumption in Europe fell 12% in August from a year earlier, it said. August was "another record-breaking month for EU gas storage building," the bank said in a note. "storage growth largely reflects the decline in gas demand and stable supply" as LNG and Norwegian shipments helped offset the decline in Russian volumes. See also: More Winter LNG Cargoes to Europe as Japan's Storage Increases: BNEF Yet gas prices have more than quadrupled from a year ago and electricity prices remain high. According to Mechthild Woersdoerfer, the European Commission's top energy official, the EU is considering measures such as price caps, reducing electricity demand and taxing energy companies to protect the economy and ease household bills. A plan on electricity will be announced on September 14. Germany, Europe's largest economy and one of the countries hardest hit by the crisis, needs to cut gas demand by at least 20% and secure additional supplies, according to the energy regulator. The EU has already agreed on a voluntary target to cut consumption by 15%, but more measures could be taken to coordinate reductions. The bloc is also looking elsewhere for supplies as it increases its LNG purchases. Germany will lease an additional floating terminal for LNG imports beyond the four it is already building. Dutch front-month gas, a benchmark for Europe, fell 6.3% to 224.90 euros per megawatt-hour as of 10:58 am in Amsterdam. Prices have fallen more than 30% this week after hitting record highs on Friday. The equivalent contract in the UK fell 6.1%. Source: Bloomberg Follow Global Economic Developments on Social Media! Click here to follow Ieconomy official Facebook account! Click here to follow Ieconomy official Instagram account! Click here to follow Ieconomy official Twitter account!