Europe is now stuck with a huge stockpile of natural gas after hoarding it last year for a brutal winter that never came

• Europe has managed to avert an energy crisis thanks to a warm winter.
• But countries in the region hoarded natural-gas supplies last year on fears of a shortage.
• Storage facilities are now at their highest levels in years — but natural-gas prices have tanked.

Europe got lucky — it managed to avert an energy crisis, all thanks to a warm winter.

But it has another problem. Countries in the region hoarded so much natural gas at higher prices that it's now stuck with stockpiles of the fuel that have depreciated in market value.