Natural gas prices in Europe edge lower due to forecast extra supply from the US, which continues to send ships carrying the fuel across the Atlantic Ocean. The outlook to milder weather next week – and hence the prospect of less demand – is also supporting declining prices, reports Bloomberg News.

Ships laden with natural gas from the US are sending Tuesday's Dutch forward prices downward.

For a long period, European gas prices have been buoyed by limited supply of Russian gas after Russian President Vladimir Putin had the pipelines to Germany plugged.

Such factors have sent prices soaring, and just a week back the price of Dutch forward gas reached as high as EUR 187.28 per MWh. Seven days later, the gas future trades for EUR 104.95 per MWh against EUR 106 per MWh Monday afternoon.

Since then, the US has increased its gas export to Europe after several Asian countries opted to tap national stockpiles rather than import from the US, the media writes.

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