Europe’s gas crunch could return as Goldman Sachs sees winter spike

Europe’s gas market crunch could return next winter, with the potential for prices to more than double with a revival in demand.

Mild temperatures and efforts to curb consumption have seen benchmark natural gas slump to less than €40 a megawatt-hour from the record levels reached last August in the wake of Russia’s squeeze on pipeline flows. Complacency among consumers — from industries to power plants and households — risks a market tightening later this year, according to delegates at the Flame gas conference in Amsterdam.

Europe was saved this winter by mild weather and weak demand for LNG by China, but it’s uncertain whether those conditions will last.