Prices have even been falling recently. But the trend is different: the fewer users, the more expensive it is for those who use it.
Winter is coming, temperatures are dropping and the search for natural gas increases – but the prices in Europe have even dropped.
Last week, values even dropped significantly: the benchmark value of the Dutch Securities Transfer Facility (TTF) fell below the 28 euros per MWhlast Tuesday. It is the lowest value since April 2024.
In fact, throughout this year, natural gas prices in Europe fell by more than 45% and more than 90%, compared to historic highs that came from the start of the war in Ukraine and the resulting energy crisis in 2022, recalls .
Despite the cold, greater demand and low levels of storage, natural gas became cheaper – mainly due to the increase in exports of liquefied natural gas (LNG) leaving the USA rumo to Europe.
It is this factor that compensates for the smaller amount of natural gas that comes from Russia; and reshapes the global energy balance.
But…
…o natural gas may become more expensive in the coming years. Or rather, much more expensive.
The warning is made in a new study by the Fraunhofer Institute: in the worst case scenario, annual gas tariffs for an average household with a consumption of 15,000 kWh could rise from the current 400 euros to 4,300 euros.
The bills are still risky, but they are not unrealistic. It’s a hypothesis. With a base: The fewer homes that use natural gas for heating, the more expensive natural gas is for other usersresume o .
And there is a clear goal: the gradual elimination of the use of natural gas is an accomplished fact.
Already Germany, for example, the Constitution warns that climate neutrality will be achieved by 2045. There is no place for fossil natural gas – in a country where more than half (56%) of homes are heated by natural gas.
