Europe's Gas Demand Slumps by a Third in March as Iran War Sends Energy Prices Soaring

Europe's major economies Italy, Germany, the Netherlands, Poland, and Belgium pushed gas-fired power production to multi-year highs in early 2026, raising hopes that the region was rebuilding its appetite for the fuel. But the U.S.-Iran war, which erupted February 28, has sharply reversed that momentum. Average gas generation levels across key consumers dropped by around a third in March compared to the month before. The situation is further complicated by dangerously low storage levels, currently around 27% of capacity, the lowest since 2022. Europe must inject roughly 6.9 billion cubic feet per day through November to reach the roughly 2,000 billion cubic feet historically needed for winter, the equivalent of two large LNG tankers daily. Qatar, the world's second-largest LNG exporter in 2025, remains offline, making replenishment significantly harder.