BP CFO eyes further Europe gas market volatility ahead

BP PLC's chief financial officer said Aug. 4 that she sees more volatility down the line for natural gas markets amid Europe's lagging gas-stocking campaign.

"I suspect we will see more volatility in the space of international and European gas given where storage and European gas looks like it's at currently compared to five-year averages," CFO Kate Thomson said during the energy company's second quarter 2026 earnings call.

EU-wide gas storage is trailing levels seen in recent years. Stores were filled to 57.4% as of Aug. 2, according to the latest data published by Gas Infrastructure Europe. This is well below the average fill of just under 74% for the same period during 2021-2025, GIE data showed.

European gas prices have hovered near recent highs amid persistent trade disruptions in the Persian Gulf. Platts, part of S&P Global Energy, assessed the month-ahead Dutch TTF gas benchmark at €57.945/megawatt-hour on Aug. 3, down 0.9% from July 31. The index is some 43% higher than in late June, when it hit a recent low amid hopes of de-escalation in the war in the Middle East.

Gas production

The expectation of sustained gas market volatility comes as BP reports gas production nearly even year over year for the quarter.

The company saw gas output for the second quarter hit some 6.5 billion standard cubic feet/day (about 183 million cubic meters/day) over the quarter. Production over Q2 2025 was just slightly lower, at around 6.4 Bcf/d.

BP reports gas production split between two segments. The company's gas and low-carbon segment generated about 3.9 Bcf/d throughout Q2 2026, down from about 4 Bcf/d in Q2 2025. The remaining volumes came from its oil production and operations segment.