The price of European natural gas fell to its lowest level since late July on Monday.
In the morning, the price of the TTF futures contract for Dutch natural gas fell by almost eight percent to around EUR 189 per megawatt hour.
However, this means that the gas price is still about eight times higher than usual for the time of year.
The TTF contract serves as a guideline for the European price level.
A week ago, the gas price had skyrocketed to record highs of over 300 euros per megawatt hour due to the temporary stop in deliveries via the important Nord Stream 1 pipeline.
Gazprom gave technical problems as the reason for the delivery stop.
However, it is assumed that Russia wants to put even more pressure on the West in the conflict over Ukraine.
Until recently, Russia was by far the largest gas supplier to the EU countries.
In 2021, 155 billion cubic meters of Russian gas arrived, covering almost 40 percent of EU needs.
According to a report by the Bloomberg news agency, the EU Commission now wants to oblige member states to reduce their electricity requirements.
The agency relies on a draft available to it.
In order to reduce electricity consumption, targets should be set both for reducing overall use and for selected peak times.
Low electricity consumption would also dampen demand for natural gas.
In addition, the Commission wants to skim off the profits of energy companies.
The commission will propose the measures this week, according to Bloomberg.
However, the member countries must agree.