Natural gas prices have risen in Europe as demand has increased around the world. Although this occurs with most raw materials, the problem has been greater with natural gas.
It is due to a global economic rebound as countries lift restrictions and fully reopen their economies. Markets compete for demand after the impact of the pandemic.
There is also competition for natural gas after long winters in Europe and East Asia, with buyers now pushing prices up.
Demand has increased for a number of reasons, experts say, including that Europe has had a colder winter, so people have been heating their homes for longer than usual.
This, coupled with the phasing out of coal and a bad year for wind power production, has increased the need for natural gas.
There are also several problems on the supply side: among them, less maintenance of the oil and gas fields during the health crisis and less investment.
