NEW YORK, Jan 6 (Reuters) – Energy futures for crude oil, refined products and natural gas have plummeted in the new year as traders reconsidered near-term worries over cold weather and fears of supply shortages and dumped contracts.

Prices rose last year on worries of Europe freezing due to the loss of Russian fuel, as OPEC+ cut production targets and as critically low U.S. distillate stocks raised the prospect of fuel export curbs.

Those fears have proven overblown, driving prices down. European gas stocks are well above seasonal norms, Saudi Aramco this week cut prices for oil shipped to Asia, and OPEC members’ output unexpectedly rose last month, a Reuters survey found.

Warmer-than-usual temperatures in the United States and Europe also have cut the need for gas and oil for heating.

U.S. natural gas tumbled about 18% in the first week of January, the biggest slide on record to start a year, according to Refinitiv Eikon data. The 12% drop in distillate futures , was the biggest dive to start a year since 1991. Distillate consumption typically rises on winter season demand.

U.S. West Texas Intermediate , Brent and U.S. gasoline futures all had their biggest weekly decline to start a year since 2016, with WTI down 7.4%, Brent 7.3% and U.S. gasoline 7.3%.

NEWFOUND CAPACITY

“Some of our greatest fears in 2022 never got realized,” said John Kilduff, partner at Again Capital LLC in New York. While OPEC’s spare capacity is limited, traders see additional supplies coming from Guyana, Brazil and Canada, he said.