You might think that Europe would be filling every tank on the continent with natural gas in the face of erratic supplies exiting the Persian Gulf, but that is not the case. Carol Ryan explains in The Wall Street Journal that Europe is rolling the dice on a mild winter. She writes:

Europe is acting unusually. Faced with its second energy crisis in four years, you would think countries would be doing everything in their power to have proper provisions for winter. Instead, the region is about to head into the colder months with the lowest levels of natural gas in storage in 15 years.

It is a sign that some governments in Europe are willing to roll the dice on what happens next in energy markets rather than repeat mistakes made back in 2022. That could help keep already high gas prices in check.

But, if Europe has miscalculated and needs to turn to the spot market for more supplies later this year, U.S. exporters of liquefied natural gas will profit from higher prices. And some European economies could suffer.

Read more here.