Bloomberg: Europe at risk of missing gas reserve target for next winter

As per Bloomberg, a scramble for natural gas supplies might break out this year, before new LNG capacities come online; that could create new opportunities for LNG exporter countries.

While Europe has enough gas reserves to get through this winter and prices have eased since the start of the year, inventories are being eroded by cold weather, the news agency claimed. Supply options have also been squeezed since the start of this year, when Russian pipeline deliveries through Ukraine ceased.

“There will certainly be an energy gap in Europe this year,” said Francisco Blanch, commodity strategist at Bank of America Corp., adding that ‘all the incremental LNG that’s coming online this year around the world will go into making up for that shortfall in Russian gas’.

According to Saul Kavonic, an energy analyst at MST Marquee in Sydney, to cover its projected demand, Europe will need to import as much as an extra 10 million tonnes of LNG per year – about 10% of the total amount.