LNG supply improved the short-term gas picture in Week 25, particularly in Italy and Greece, but the broader European storage position remained the more important medium-term risk. LNG inflows into Italy and Greece increased, helping reinforce supply security and reducing immediate pressure on gas markets. At the same time, European storage levels remained below the same period in the previous two years, keeping winter-risk pricing alive.
For SEE, LNG is not only a gas-market issue. It directly affects power prices because Italy, Greece and parts of the wider region still depend on gas-fired generation for balancing. When LNG availability improves, gas supply becomes more secure, and thermal generators face less fuel-side pressure. That can reduce panic pricing and support system stability.
Italy remains the central LNG-linked market for SEE. It is both a large gas consumer and a high-price power market. Stronger LNG inflows help Italy manage demand and generation needs, but they do not remove its structural import dependence. Italy still required higher electricity imports in Week 25 and remained the premium market in the region.
Greece is different. LNG gives Greece a strategic balancing role in Southeast Europe because its gas system can support both domestic generation and regional flows. In Week 25, Greece combined stronger renewable output with increased exports, while gas-fired generation also rose. That mix shows why LNG infrastructure, renewable generation and cross-border electricity flows are now connected in one regional energy balance.
Croatia’s LNG position is also strategically important, especially because Krk gives the region an alternative supply route. Even when Croatian LNG inflows are stable rather than rising, the infrastructure itself supports supply diversification for Central and Southeast Europe.
The risk is storage. Lower storage levels compared with previous years mean that summer comfort can disappear quickly if refill rates lag, Asian LNG demand rises, pipeline supply tightens or winter weather expectations change. For traders, this keeps forward risk premiums alive even when spot conditions look softer.
For industrial buyers, LNG and storage create two different signals. LNG availability helps short-term procurement confidence. Weak storage comfort increases the value of winter hedging. For gas-fired generators, the same split applies: near-term fuel security improves, but medium-term price risk remains.
SEE’s gas market is therefore not simply bearish. LNG is helping, but storage is still the balance-sheet risk behind the curve.
