Financial Times columnist Chris Giles argues that Europe's wholesale gas-price surge could prove temporary, despite unusually low EU storage fullness. In an Oct. 20 post linking to his opinion piece, he called the EU and UK gas crisis “not that bad.” His storage argument compares EU stocks with consumption rather than capacity.
In the piece, Giles writes that the European TTF gas benchmark topped €88 per megawatt-hour, three times its level before the Iran war began in February. He says UK natural-gas prices rose similarly.
Why low storage tells two stories
EU gas storage was less than 75% full, Giles writes, compared with 98% in 2023 and a mid-October average of 90% from 2011 to 2025. But he argues that fullness misses the effect of lower consumption: Gas use fell sharply in 2022 and 2023 and has not returned to its earlier level. On his alternative measures comparing storage with consumption, stored gas is close to the historical average.
Giles also distinguishes liquefied natural gas, or LNG, from total natural-gas supply. He writes that Qatar and the United Arab Emirates controlled 20% of global LNG supply in 2025, while their LNG exports represented 3% of total global natural-gas supply. According to his account, other producers offset three-quarters of the two countries' lost supply between March and June, and global LNG supply that summer was 4% below its 2025 level.
Low stockpiles still leave Europe more exposed to a winter cold snap, Giles warns. He also points to higher energy bills and inflation. He argues that demand can adjust and future LNG exports from the US, Canada and Mexico could ease prices, but cautions that earlier futures prices were wrong.
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