European gas benchmark tops €100 as EU energy chief warns of difficult winter
EU gas storage was 75 per cent full on 21 October, below the usual 90 per cent target for 1 November, according to the bloc’s energy regulators.
Europe’s benchmark gas contract rose above €100 per megawatt-hour on 28 October 2026, reaching that threshold for the first time since December 2022. The front-month Dutch TTF contract reached €100.37 per megawatt-hour at 16:00 CET, a daily gain exceeding 4 per cent.
The price had been around €32 before the Iran war started in late February. Despite the rise, it remained below the record of about €340 reached in August 2022.
Earlier on 28 October, EU energy chief Dan Jørgensen warned that geopolitical turbulence had brought another energy crisis. Speaking in Brussels after meeting European oil refiners, he said winter would be difficult for citizens and the economy, with fuel bills rising sharply.
The Iran war has disrupted liquefied natural gas (LNG) deliveries, particularly from Qatar. According to the EU Agency for the Cooperation of Energy Regulators (ACER), almost no Qatari LNG reached the bloc during the summer. The US now provides roughly 30 per cent of EU gas supplies, the agency said.
ACER estimated that the war had added between €18 billion and €33 billion to Europe’s gas import bill. It also warned that competition with Asia for available winter LNG shipments could bring further price swings. Gas demand, however, is around 20 per cent below its level before the 2022 crisis, helping stored supplies last longer.
The European Commission expects global diesel supplies to remain tight well into 2027 and wants European refineries to increase production. EU energy ministers are scheduled to meet on 29 October.
