Europe’s appetite for LNG to ease

Ample stocks and a soft demand outlook will limit how much LNG Europe can import this year

Europe’s role in the global LNG markets appears to be shifting once again. The energy crises of recent years saw the bloc become the premium marginal purchaser of LNG, as Europe desperately sought to break its energy dependence on Russia following the invasion of Ukraine. But two consecutive mild winters, high storage levels and a muted economic outlook mean European LNG demand looks relatively weak this summer and might be poised to decline as the region continues with its aggressive buildout of renewables and adoption of energy-saving measures in the coming years. Europe is poised to enter the summer months with record gas inventories for this time of year. Data from storage operator assoc