Exchange prices for gas in Europe fell to the level of $495.6 per 1,000 cubic meters (or €45.85 per MWh). The price reduction below the $500 level was recorded for the first time since August 2021. It is worth noting that the cost of LNG in Europe has been steadily decreasing since the end of August 2022. By mid–January of this year, prices fell by 25%, and in February they reached an 18-month low at $550 per thousand cubic meters. The current decline is largely due to the warm weather that has set in the European region, as well as the presence of significant LNG reserves in European underground gas storage facilities (UGS). According to the latest data, Europe's UGS are filled by 60.62%, which is 21.46 percentage points higher than the average for this date over the past 5 years. Gas prices were also supported by the fact that the largest gas liquefaction plant in the USA, Freeport LNG, returned to the market, whose capacity was idle for six months due to a fire.
