European natural gas futures rose past €39/MWh, the highest since June, and are on track for a weekly increase of over 6%, as elevated withdrawals in January highlighted tight regional supplies. Europe has been relying heavily on gas reserves this winter, with withdrawals running at the fastest pace in five years amid unusually cold weather, averaging around 7.79 terawatt hours per day, while LNG imports have remained below half that level. Rapid drawdowns have left stockpiles near 47.6% full, well under the roughly 58.4% recorded a year ago, tightening the supply outlook ahead of another expected cold spell. Key storage hubs show even lower levels, with Germany at 39.7%, France at 39% and the Netherlands at 33.3%, while Italy (at 62.6%) and Austria (at 51.5%) also draw down reserves. On top of that, US gas flows were diverted from LNG export facilities to meet strong domestic demand during an Arctic blast, and colder weather in Asia intensified competition for LNG cargoes.
