STORY CONTINUES BELOW THESE SALTWIRE VIDEOSBy Kate Abnett, Nora Buli and Julia Payne
At the time of the pipeline attack, European gas prices were three times higher than before Russia invaded Ukraine and industries were cutting output to contain gas costs.Now prices are much lower. European gas benchmark the front month contract on the Dutch Title Transfer Facility is trading at around 40 euros compared with 180 euros a year ago.
New pipelines to carry non-Russian gas opened last year in Greece and Poland. Finland, Germany, Italy and the Netherlands opened LNG import terminals and more are planned in France and Greece. The weather played a part as a warm winter made it relatively easy to use less energy for heating and Europe emerged early this year from its peak season for gas demand with unusually full storage caverns, making it easier to replenish them this year.
"Europe has managed to swap out the [Russian] volumes. But in reality, this has only been possible at the expense of wider economic activity," Tom Marzec-Manser, head of gas analytics at ICIS, said.