# European Gas Ends August at Its Highest Level for the Month Since 2022

Benchmark futures rose from about $709 per thousand cubic meters on July 31 to roughly $840 on August 31, with Germany facing the cost through the winter.

- Published: 2026-09-01T05:19:32.860Z
- Canonical: https://polylog.news/2026-09-01/european-gas-ends-august-at-its-highest-level-for-the-month
- Publisher: Polylog (Global desk)
- Section: markets
- Sources: [TASS](https://tass.com/economy/2180153), [IRNA (Farsi)](https://www.irna.ir/news/86250984/%D9%85%D8%B1%D8%AF-%D8%A8%DB%8C%D9%85%D8%A7%D8%B1-%D8%A7%D8%B1%D9%88%D9%BE%D8%A7-%D8%B2%DB%8C%D8%B1-%D8%AA%DB%8C%D8%BA-%D8%A8%D8%AD%D8%B1%D8%A7%D9%86-%D8%A7%D9%86%D8%B1%DA%98%DB%8C), [Euronews](https://www.euronews.com/business/2026/08/20/europes-gas-prices-have-doubled-with-the-worst-yet-to-come)

European gas futures closed August at about $840 per thousand cubic meters, up from roughly $709 at the end of July, [TASS reported](https://tass.com/economy/2180153), calling it the highest August level since 2022. Trading Economics recorded the Dutch benchmark price at 69.91 euros per megawatt-hour on August 31. [Euronews reported](https://www.euronews.com/business/2026/08/20/europes-gas-prices-have-doubled-with-the-worst-yet-to-come) that prices have roughly doubled since the start of the year, attributing the rise to the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz to liquefied natural gas shipments, extended outages at Norwegian gas fields, and drought that has cut hydroelectric and nuclear power output.

Iran's state news agency IRNA published an assessment of the consequences for Germany under the headline "the sick man of Europe under the blade of the energy crisis," arguing that [despite some signs of recovery, Germany faces mounting pressure from rising energy costs this winter](https://www.irna.ir/news/86250984/%D9%85%D8%B1%D8%AF-%D8%A8%DB%8C%D9%85%D8%A7%D8%B1-%D8%A7%D8%B1%D9%88%D9%BE%D8%A7-%D8%B2%DB%8C%D8%B1-%D8%AA%DB%8C%D8%BA-%D8%A8%D8%AD%D8%B1%D8%A7%D9%86-%D8%A7%D9%86%D8%B1%DA%98%DB%8C). Russian and Iranian state outlets have an interest in emphasizing European energy weakness, but the price data they cite matches independent European reporting.

Current prices remain far below the levels of 2022. What has changed is the trend and the timing. Europe is entering the heating season with gas storage below comfortable levels, and its marginal supply now depends on a waterway under military threat.

## What this means

European gas prices now respond to events in the Gulf because seaborne liquefied natural gas sets the price at the margin, and Qatari cargoes must pass through the Strait of Hormuz. That links German industrial electricity costs directly to Iranian and American military decisions. Energy-intensive manufacturers in Germany, especially in chemicals and metals, absorb the cost through lower profit margins, and households absorb it through utility bills that feed inflation across the eurozone. The European Central Bank faces one of the hardest versions of an inflation problem, driven by an import price it cannot control through interest rates.

## What to watch

- European gas storage levels entering October, which set how much of the winter can be covered without emergency purchases.
- Whether Qatari liquefied natural gas cargoes resume normal transit through Hormuz, the single largest variable in the European price.
- German industrial production and any new state support for energy-intensive industry, which would show the cost is being shifted onto the federal budget.