European gas price climbs above 97 euros per MWh, highest since the 2022 energy crisis

Gas at its highest level since 2022

The European benchmark gas price rose on Monday morning, 26 October 2026, on the Amsterdam exchange, where the TTF contract for delivery in one month climbed above 97 euros per megawatt-hour. Reports put the gain at roughly 3 to 3.5 per cent, and the level at between 97.29 and 97.64 euros, depending on the report. Prices have not been this high since late 2022, when the energy crisis that followed Russia's invasion of Ukraine pushed gas above 340 euros per megawatt-hour. The rise has been steep: the price has climbed by about a third since the start of the month, has more than tripled since January, and was still below 75 euros in early October, compared with about 32 euros before the Iran war broke out at the end of February.

End of February 2026, before the Iran war32

Early October 2026, just under 7575

26 October 2026, Monday morning, above 9797

End of February 2026, before the Iran war

32 EUR/MWh

Early October 2026, just under 75

75 EUR/MWh

26 October 2026, Monday morning, above 97

97 EUR/MWh

Data from the article text

What is pushing prices up

Deliveries of liquefied natural gas remain disrupted by the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, and Europe now draws its gas mainly from Norway and the United States. The strait is one of the world's most important transport routes for liquefied gas, and the US-Iran war is named as the main driver of the price increase. Oil has risen alongside gas because of violence in the Middle East. Autumn demand adds to the pressure as consumers switch on their heating. Bloomberg describes benchmark futures as back at crisis levels, while the policy response in Europe has not yet followed.

Storage refill and winter worries

Refilling storage before winter adds further pressure on prices. Germany, the largest economy in Europe, has been working for weeks to raise its reserves, and last month the state-owned company SEFE Securing Energy for Europe was instructed to buy additional gas for storage. German storage was more than 61% full, compared with about 75% a year earlier. In Austria, storage stood at 67.19% as of Saturday according to the economy ministry, equal to 68.39 terawatt-hours of gas energy. Across the EU, storage is about 75% full, the lowest for this point of the year since 2009, and uncertainty over the coming winter is part of the reason for the price move. Most gas supply is governed by contracts with longer terms, so higher wholesale prices reach households only with a delay.