European Gas Report - Week Ending August 23

Welcome to this week’s European Gas Market Report for week ending 23 August 2026. We will look at TTF prices, how they compare with Asia, EU storage, LNG exports, weather, power demand and major news.

TTF futures, the main European natural gas benchmark, settled at 65.865 EUR/MWh on Friday 21 August 2026, up 7.23% week-on-week, from 61.424 EUR/MWh on Friday 14 August 2026. Highest price this week was the Friday settling price, 65.865 EUR/MWh.

For comparison, JKM LNG settled at 22.940 USD/MMBtu, which converts into 67.030 EUR/MWh using the recent exchange rate of 1.1678 USD/EUR. JKM LNG price is higher only by 1.77% than TTF, meaning that the TTF JKM spread narrowed significantly. The Asian market is a competitor of the European market in terms of demand for natural gas. Such a narrowing spread will likely divert LNG vessels that were meant for Asia to Europe, since the netback value of selling LNG in Asia will become less attractive, leading to an increase in supply of natural gas in Europe; bearish indicator.

Storage

Region	Storage % full	Weekly change	vs last year
EU	61.68%	+10.0444 TWh	75.35% (below)
Germany	50.71%	+2.4889 TWh	68.19% (below)
Italy	81.18%	+4.1233 TWh	87.21% (below)
Netherlands	43.87%	+3.4369 TWh	63.22% (below)

Percentage of stored gas from full capacity in Germany, Italy, Netherlands, and overall EU is lower than for the same date last year. The injections were strong this week.

Overall, the storage indicates a stable high demand.

LNG

LNG arrivals into Europe:

Region	This week (Fri to Fri)	Week before	Change
EU	21,648.26 GWh	20,458.03 GWh	+5.82%
France	3,557.06 GWh	2,899.36 GWh	+22.68%
Germany	2,297.78 GWh	2,130.04 GWh	+7.88%
Italy	3,685.19 GWh	3,249.58 GWh	+13.41%
Netherlands	4,959.90 GWh	4,991.51 GWh	-0.63%

LNG arrivals into Europe have increased week-on-week, with the total EU LNG arrivals up 5.82%, to 21,648.26 GWh. The four major demand countries of LNG also experienced a strong rise in LNG arrival, expect for Netherlands which experienced a small reduction of under 1%. The LNG supply is therefore increasing. This is a bearish indicator for TTF.

United States is the main supplier of LNG to Europe. The LNG-carrying capacity of vessels departing U.S. ports was 129 Bcf, down 5 Bcf from the previous week. Thirty-four LNG vessels left U.S. ports, down two vessels from the previous week.

Pipelines

Norway pipeline flows:

Region	This week (Fri to Fri)	Last week (Fri to Fri)	Change
Germany	6,294.86 GWh	6,902.77 GWh	-8.81%
Belgium	3,384.10 GWh	3,413.45 GWh	-0.86%
France	3,655.83 GWh	3,768.33 GWh	-2.99%
Netherlands	4,454.90 GWh	4,419.80 GWh	+0.79%

Pipeline flow from Norway reduced slightly this week.

North African flows:

Region	This week (Fri to Fri)	Last week (Fri to Fri)	Change
Italy	4,028.20 GWh	3,865.86 GWh	+4.20%
Spain	2,258.34 GWh	2,251.86 GWh	~0.00%

Flow from Tunisia and Libya to Italy and from Algeria to Spain remain very stable.

The overall pipeline flow into Europe has slightly reduced this week, but remains largely unchanged; an indication of a stable market.

Demand

Demand conditions eased across much of Western and Northern Europe during the week, as cooler Atlantic air replaced the heatwave that had affected the region earlier in August. Temperatures in France, the UK and Benelux moved closer to seasonal levels, reducing cooling demand and the associated call on gas-fired generation. However, hot conditions persisted across Southern and Southeastern Europe, with temperatures reaching around 36–38 °C in parts of Italy, Spain, Greece and the Balkans, keeping air-conditioning demand elevated in these markets.

As a result, gas demand from the power sector remained supported by cooling requirements in Southern Europe, although the contribution from Western Europe declined compared with the previous weeks. Continued heat in the southeast, alongside reduced nuclear availability in some markets due to low water levels and high temperatures, provided further support for gas-fired generation. Looking ahead, demand is likely to remain regionally mixed, with cooler conditions expected in much of Western Europe while warmer weather persists further south and east.

Major news

Russia expands its shadow fleet of LNG carriers. The European sanctions on LNG will become stronger from next year, so Russia is preparing the shadow fleet to continue exporting its gas.

ExxonMobil continues the development of its gas project in Mozambique despite terrorist threats. The new LNG plant is expected to cost $30 billion. Work on this facility was paused in 2021 after 800 people were killed by militants in the area. The war in the Middle East pushed ExxonMobil to continue the project.

Balance Table

Factor	Direction	Impact on prices
Storage	Stable, but below the norm	Stable (0 points)
LNG arrivals	Rising	Bearish (-0.5 points)
Pipeline flows	Relatively stable	Stable (0 points)
Weather	Cool in West, hot in South	Stable (0 points)
Power demand	Stable	Stable (0 points)
News	Stable	Stable (0 points)