Europe’s gas storage sites are nearly 95% full, providing a buffer for when the weather turns colder. Reserves in the biggest gas consumer, Germany, have risen to 99%, according to Gas Infrastructure Europe.

In July last year, Westinghouse announced the launch of front-end engineering and design work - based on AP1000 technology - under a grant from the US Trade and Development Agency to progress the nuclear energy programme in Poland.

Poland's Minister of State Assets and Deputy Prime Minister Jacek Sasin and South Korea's Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy Lee Chang-yang also signed a memorandum of understanding "to support the nuclear energy project in Patnow and tighten cooperation in the scope of necessary information exchange".

Romania has ongoing programmes to upgrade its existing Candu reactors at Cernavoda NPP, as well as to construct two new units and to develop small modular reactors (SMRs).

The recent fall in European gas prices may not last, according to Italian energy major Eni SpA. “It’s a temporary situation,” Chief Executive Officer Claudio Descalzi said in Abu Dhabi. “We have problems in 2023 because in 2023 we don’t have Russian gas.”

The push to fill storage facilities before the start of winter has been successful -- with many close to capacity. But some suppliers may now want to hold back those reserves until they can sell their stored gas at more attractive rates.

Dutch front-month gas, Europe’s benchmark, rose 3.4% to €111 per megawatt-hour at 8:57 a.m. in Amsterdam, paring some of the weekly decline.

While US fuel now makes up 40% of Europe’s liquefied natural gas imports, it will only offset a fraction of the deficit from Russia next summer,

Lower Russian supplies sent European gas prices to all-time highs in late August though prices have come down sharply as storage sites across the EU were filled to close to capacity.

The other cap in the mix is one to limit the price of gas used in electricity generation, which is backed by a vociferous group of member states.

China's crude imports from Russia have continued to stay elevated through 2022, averaging at 1.71 million b/d over January-August, up 7.3% year on year, according to customs data.

Caps on gas prices top the political agenda in Europe as governments seek to rein in an unprecedented energy crisis triggered by a cut of gas shipments by Russia, the continent’s former biggest supplier.

Benchmark futures declined as much as 12%, and are about 70% lower from the highs of August.

Benchmark futures declined as much as 4.8% on Friday and headed for a third straight weekly loss.

Germany stuck to its refusal to cap gas prices and the 27 could only agree to disagree, declaring they will keep on examining options to put a ceiling on costs.