Key facts
- The IEA said tightness in the global natural gas market could extend well into 2027.
- Europe risks ending the winter with record-low fuel inventories, according to the IEA.
- Europe will need to replenish those inventories, the IEA said.
The International Energy Agency said tightness in the global natural gas market could extend well into 2027, warning that Europe risks ending the winter with record-low fuel inventories and will need to replenish them. The agency's assessment, reported without a publication date, frames the strain as running past the current heating season rather than easing with it.
The IEA's warning centers on Europe's storage position. Low inventories at the end of winter would leave the region needing to buy heavily to refill them, a demand pull that the agency links to continued tightness in the wider market.
No figures for storage levels, prices or volumes accompanied the assessment in the report available.