Europe has a better forecast for natural gas storage ahead of this coming winter, but it’s too soon to say whether the continent is fully prepared, BP plc CEO Bernard Looney said Tuesday.

Imports

During the conference call to discuss second quarter results, Looney said the weather, as usual, will be the deciding factor. 

Regarding Europe’s natural gas demand outlook, current storage levels “mean we’re in a much better position than we were last winter,” the CEO said. “Does that mean that we’re out of the woods? You can’t say that. Why not? Because there was a lot of demand destruction last winter, maybe 20% to 25% in industry. What happens to that? Does that remain? Does it return? We don’t quite know.”

There are many things contributing to the uncertainty in forecasts...