Wholesale Gas Markets in 2021: rebound of demand, lower LNG imports and a high reliance on gas storage stocks

The EU Agency for the Cooperation of Energy Regulators (ACER) publishes today an overview of European Gas Wholesale Markets trends in 2021, as an early publication of its annual Market Monitoring Report (MMR).

The MMR presents the results of monitoring the European internal electricity and gas markets and recommends further actions to foster their integration, as well as providing guidance and evidence on how energy markets can perform more efficiently.

In 2022, the MMR will comprise two volumes: one analysing the Gas Wholesale Markets, and the other analysing the Energy Retail Markets and Consumer Protection with expected publications dates of Q3 (July) and Q4 (September) respectively.

What are the main monitoring trends in wholesale gas markets in 2021?

• EU gas demand increased, primarily driven by the economic recovery. However, the record-high gas prices led to some gas-to-coal switching for power generation resulting in a drop in gas consumption for power generation.

Explore the evolution of total gas demand and the link with demand for power generation in individual Member States over the last few years in the interactive gas markets dashboard.

• Meanwhile, gas supply did not keep pace with the increase in demand. Domestic gas production in the EU and United Kingdom continued to decline and European liquefied natural gas (LNG) imports dropped, with modest pipeline supply. In the years to come, LNG will likely play an increasingly relevant role in the European gas supply portfolio.

Investigate the evolution of gas supply per origin and the evolution of European LNG imports over the last few years.

• Limited gas supply led to a higher reliance on underground storage stocks, which reached historically low levels because of higher withdrawals and lower injections.

You can compare underground storage levels over the last few years in our interactive dashboard.

• Wholesale gas prices rose sharply in all countries, but to different degrees. Nevertheless, the strong hub price convergence that was already achieved was not overturned.

Track the development of spot gas prices and price convergence over the last few years.

For the full overview, access the analysis on key Gas Wholesale Markets developments.

What were the main monitoring trends in the Electricity Wholesale Markets in 2021? Find out more.

Deepen your insights (e.g. by country and/or time frame) by exploring our interactive dashboard of dynamic charts of market and trading data.