Qatar, one of the world's largest LNG exporters, has been courted by European countries, including Germany and the UK, in recent months as they seek improved gas supply security amid stubbornly high prices.

The 27 EU member states are trying to hammer out an agreement that can be implemented by the end of the year. The commission on Tuesday proposed to limit the price of the upcoming contract on the TTF market. TTF accounts for around four-fifths of gas trading in the bloc.

Despite having already spent hundreds of billions of euros ensuring storage sites are filled this winter and providing support to households and businesses, the strain on public funds as well as pain for households and businesses are likely to continue next year.

Failure to reach a deal would send a signal that the EU’s united response to the war-driven energy crisis is falling apart -- a political gift for Moscow that Europe is keen to avoid.

Exceptionally mild weather across Northwest Europe since October has led to a sharp drop in gas prices from record levels over the summer.

Meanwhile, the European Union is continuing talks about ways to limit spikes in gas prices ahead of a meeting of energy ministers next week.

Benchmark gas futures settled 9.2% higher, following an increase of 16% on Monday. Freeport LNG in Texas will likely extend an outage that began in June, increasing global competition for much-needed supplies right before the winter.

The Netherlands, Poland, Spain, France and Italy have been the top five destinations for Saudi oil in the region this year, all of which have also been regular buyers of Russian crude.

Risks over existing gas supplies from Russia will continue through the coming months, with just one pipeline route open to the biggest European customers.

Currently, the most expensive form of generation -- gas -- sets the price for all electricity that’s sold into the market. That means consumers are bearing the brunt of Russia’s supply cuts to the continent. It also means Europe isn’t feeling much of the benefit of low-cost renewables like wind farms, which get to sell at big margins.