EUROPE GAS Prices Hit Multi-Month Highs Due to US Winter Storm and Storage Concerns
Dutch and British gas contract prices rose Monday morning to their highest level in nearly 10 months as the freezing weather in the U.S. curbed LNG exports. This also raised concerns about?European gas storage levels.
LSEG data shows that the benchmark Dutch front-month contract for megawatt hours (MWh) at the 'TTF 'hub had increased by 2.55 euros to 41.95 euros or $14.56/mmBtu at 0825 GMT.
According to LSEG, it has reached its highest price since early April 2025 at 42.75 Euros/MWh.
The Dutch day-ahead contracts gained 1.85 Euros to 42.45 EUR/MWh.
The price of British gas for the day ahead was 7.58 pence higher at 110.33 pence/therm. Prices for the month in advance rose by 6.3 cents to 109.00 pence/therm. This is their highest level since early March 2025. Over the weekend, a powerful winter storm that swept across much of the U.S. affected energy supplies including gas production.
LSEG analyst Wayne Bryan said that there was a continuing drop in feed gas for U.S. Liquefied Natural Gas plants over the weekend.
He added that "this dynamic is likely to the main driver today" given the importance U.S. LNG imports to Europe and the current EU storage levels.
Bryan also said that a stronger demand is expected for European spot prices and near-term prices next week, as well as at the weekend.
Gas Infrastructure Europe data shows that EU gas storage sites are at the bottom of the list with 45.6% capacity, which is 15 percentage points lower than their five-year average.
Arne Lohmann-Rasmussen is the chief analyst of Global Risk Management.
Natural gas in the United States has reached its highest price since December 2022, trading at $6.29 per million British thermal units (mmBtu).
Analysts at ING said that in the recent days, TTF prices increased in response to competition in Asia for LNG supplies. This should result in more cargoes being shipped towards Europe.
The benchmark contract on the European carbon markets was up 0.15 euro at 88.55 Euros per metric ton. Nora Buli, reporting from Oslo; David Goodman, editing
(source: Reuters)
