EU risks winter gas-price spiral, as stocks run low
By Wester van Gaal
Amsterdam
13 August 2026 17:01
The EU is heading into its toughest winter for energy supplies since the 2022 energy crisis, with gas storage sites unusually empty for the time of year.
That is according to a briefing published on Thursday (13 August) by Oxford Economics, an advisory firm affiliated with Oxford University’s business college in the UK.
The forecaster also said it will revise up its European gas price forecast next month, to an average of close to €60 per megawatt hour this winter, up from €45 in its current baseline.
“The coming winter is shaping up to be the toughest for the EU since 2021-2022 in terms of energy supplies,” wrote lead economist Daniel Kral.
This is not to say this winter will be a repeat of 2022, when gas prices surged above €300.
The EU has cut gas consumption by 15 to 20 percent in recent years. It has also adapted its buying strategy with the aim of preventing price spikes.
But the bloc remains at the mercy of the weather in the winter months, Oxford Economics also said.
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About michelleclarke2015
Life event that changes all: Horse riding accident in Zimbabwe in 1993, a fractured skull et al including bipolar anxiety, chronic fatigue …. co-morbidities (Nietzche 'He who has the reason why can deal with any how' details my health history from 1993 to date). 17th 2017 August operation for breast cancer (no indications just an appointment came from BreastCheck through the Post). Trinity College Dublin Business Economics and Social Studies (but no degree) 1997-2003; UCD 1997/1998 night classes) essays, projects, writings. Trinity Horizon Programme 1997/98 (Centre for Women Studies Trinity College Dublin/St. Patrick's Foundation (Professor McKeon) EU Horizon funded: research study of 15 women (I was one of this group and it became the cornerstone of my journey to now 2017) over 9 mth period diagnosed with depression and their reintegration into society, with special emphasis on work, arts, further education; Notes from time at Trinity Horizon Project 1997/98; Articles written for Irishhealth.com 2003/2004; St Patricks Foundation monthly lecture notes for a specific period in time; Selection of Poetry including poems written by people I know; Quotations 1998-2017; other writings mainly with theme of social justice under the heading Citizen Journalism Ireland. Letters written to friends about life in Zimbabwe; Family history including Michael Comyn KC, my grandfather, my grandmother's family, the O'Donnellan ffrench Blake-Forsters; Moral wrong: An acrimonious divorce but the real injustice was the Catholic Church granting an annulment – you can read it and make your own judgment, I have mine. Topics I have written about include annual Brain Awareness week, Mashonaland Irish Associataion in Zimbabwe, Suicide (a life sentence to those left behind); Nostalgia: Tara Hill, Co. Meath.
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