December 17, 2024 [Oil Prices]- Germany will shut down its Wilhelmshaven LNG terminal in the first quarter of 2025, with government-owned operator Deutsche Energy Terminal GmbH (DET) announcing there will be no regasification activity at the terminal between Jan. 5 and April 1, 2025. The terminal is owned by energy giant Uniper, with the German government being the majority shareholder.
“During the gas crisis, our capacities have already made a significant contribution to calming the market, the gas supply has been stabilized and gas prices have since fallen significantly,” DET said in a statement.
The Wilhelmshaven LNG terminal–which receives most of its LNG from the United States–was built in response to Europe’s energy crisis. The plant has an annual regasification capacity of 7.5 billion cubic meters, a significant chunk of the EU’s LNG imports of ~120 billion cubic meters (bcm) in 2023.
European natural gas futures plunged below €40 per megawatt-hour on Monday, with prices declining sharply after hitting a one-year high a week ago as markets eased their concerns of low gas supply in the continent amid ample supplies and milder weather. Hungary and Bulgaria have continued receiving Russian gas as member states found technical solutions to pay Gazprom despite sanctions on Gazprombank. Slovakia has also announced that it will continue negotiations to secure gas supplies after the current flows through Ukraine are halted at the end of the year. Meanwhile, other European nations have found alternative sources. For instance, major German utilities signed LNG deals with the UAE’s ADNOC, while record wing power in the UK allowed it to export electricity to the European continent.
European gas inventories remain robust. According to Gas Infrastructure Europe (GIE) data, inventories stood at 96.401 billion cubic metres (bcm); the w/w draw was 3.56 bcm, well below last year’s 4.23bcm draw and slightly below the 3.68 bcm five-year average w/w draw. Inventories have drawn by less than last year on 11 of the past 12 days, reducing the y/y deficit to 9.98 bcm from 11.40 bcm. The European Centre for Medium-Term Weather Forecasting (ECMWF) projections show central European temperatures five degrees Celsius above the 30-year average at the start of next week and then remaining above average through to the end of the forecast period (24 December).
