The wholesale price of natural gas on Europe’s TTF exchange climbed 9.1% last week to €87.5 per megawatt-hour, the highest level since December 2022, according to a review of wholesale energy prices published by Latvia’s Public Utilities Commission (SPRK). A year earlier the same benchmark stood at €31.7 per MWh, so the price is now 2.8 times higher.
SPRK said the rise was driven by tight global supply of liquefied natural gas and relatively low European storage, which has sharpened concern about deliveries through the winter. European gas stores were about 74% full, below the level of a year earlier. The regulator noted that a cooler autumn could bring the heating season forward, lift gas use and make it harder to add further stocks.
On Sunday, 18 October, the Inčukalns underground gas storage facility was 49.4% full, compared with 49.9% a week earlier and 57.7% a year earlier. Across Europe, average storage fill was 74.3%, up from 73.5% a week earlier but down from 82.8% a year earlier.
The EU gas storage regulation adopted in 2022 generally requires member states to fill storage to 90%. Latvia has an exception: by November it must fill storage to 35% of national consumption. Inčukalns is far larger than Latvia’s own gas use.