(Bloomberg) — European extended its declining streak to the longest in more than a year as shipments from the U.S. look set to ease the region’s energy crunch.

Benchmark dropped for the fifth day. It fell as high as 8.3% in Amsterdam. The arrival of more ships carrying liquefied gas to Europe raises hopes that new supply will balance the already tight market. After soaring to new records last week, prices have fallen due to a drop in Russian gas flow. 

The traders are also interested in whether Russia will book its pipeline capacity for next month’s shipment to Europe. They will be watching a monthly auction for transit capacity on Tuesday, which will give an indication of Gazprom (MCX:) PJSC’s plans for January. 

Early morning data by operator Gascade showed that Russian flows through Mallnow to Germany were still halted on Tuesday. Russia refused to bid in Monday’s daily auction. 

At 9:50 in Amsterdam, Dutch front month gas was trading at 98 euro per megawatt hour. U.K. futures Europe was closed due to gas trading at ICE (NYSE.) 

Over the weekend, U.S. LNG cargoes headed for European ports increased by one third. The region is attracting more supplies as Asia’s biggest buyers are opting to use their inventories this winter instead of procuring more.

Energy demand will be slowed by milder weather in most of Europe’s mainland next week. Market remains cautious as temperatures are expected to drop below average in January’s second week.

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