His contraction is unprecedented power consumption in Europe, which led to a further fall in natural gas prices compared to the peak of last summer. Prices have fallen 40% since the beginning of the year. OUR International Energy Agency (IEA) However, he warned that consumption in Europe could change in the coming months as the European market could come under pressure from growing demand in China.

In particular, with mild winter weather conditions, European households and businesses managed to reduce their consumption by a total of 13% in 2022. IEA, this is the largest reduction in demand recorded in history. As a result, with prices falling for three consecutive months in the longest losing streak since May 2020, April futures on the Amsterdam Energy Exchange – the Old Continent’s gas barometer – have fallen by at least 15% since the start of trading. month. “Prices are returning to manageable levels, especially in Europe, where a mild winter and lower demand have helped ease market pressures,” said Keisuke Sadamori, director of energy markets and security at the IEA.

However, as the IEA warned in its latest quarterly report, demand could change in 2023. In particular, the demand for liquefied natural gas (LNG) growth is expected in Asia and especially in China, which will also increase competition in the freight transport sector. Strict sanitary restrictions that were applied in China due to the pandemic before the start of the year led to a significant decrease in energy demand in the country in 2022.

However, demand from China is now an unknown factor in the natural gas market. In a worst-case scenario, China’s LNG imports are estimated to increase by 35% in 2023 as prices continue to fall and the economy grows rapidly. “This will provoke intense competition in international markets and could lead to prices returning to unsustainable levels of last summer, which will cause concern among European buyers in particular,” the IEA said in a statement, according to Bloomberg.