European natural gas prices fall following oil market

European natgas went down in price as energy demand forecasts were pressured by supply predictions.

Prices for both crude oil benchmarks fell 2.1% on Monday, May 5, before being corrected, slightly offsetting losses. Some gas contracts are linked to oil. The fuel has fallen in price on fears of a global oversupply as OPEC+ increases production while demand is weakened by trade tensions.

High renewable energy production volumes in Europe in recent days has also had an impact on gas demand. This allowed increasing gas reserves in preparation for the next winter. Storage facilities in the region are now more than 40% full, although this is still below the average of 50% over the past five years.

The price of gas at the Europe's main hub fell 0.7% to 32.84 euros per megawatt hour.