Gas prices in Europe fall ahead of Iran and US peace negotiations
Dutch and British gas prices dropped on Friday morning, as the market took a more cautious approach in anticipation of the upcoming 'peace talks' between the United States & Iran at the weekend. Israel also appeared to be willing to start peace negotiations with Lebanon.
Data from the Intercontinental Exchange showed that the benchmark Dutch front-month contract was 44.90 euros per Megawatt Hour (MWh) at 0902 GMT. This is a decrease of 1.28 euros.
The British contract was down 3.36 pence to 113.40 per therm.
The TTF market is currently at levels similar to those seen in the 'first days of war' and the market awaits the outcome of this weekend’s meeting between the U.S.A. and Iran, in Pakistan. This was stated by Arne Lohmann, Chief Analyst of Global Risk management.
Analysts at Engie EnergyScan noted that Benjamin 'Netanyahu's comments on the opening of peace talks between Israel and Lebanon also eased some concerns?over durability of the two-week ceasefire agreement between the U.S. There is still no sign that Iran will lift its nearly total blockade of Strait of Hormuz which has caused the biggest disruption in global energy supply. The European Network of Transmission System Operators for Gas, or Entsog, said that a prolonged period of limited global LNG availability could limit Europe's capacity to replenish storages in the summer.
Gas Infrastructure Europe's data shows that EU gas storage sites are 28.9% full compared to around 35 percent at the same time last year.
Greg Molnar said that the daily filling rates rose to?nearly 250 million cubic meters per day in a LinkedIn post.
Since April 1, when the official filling season began, Europe has stored 0.6 billion cubic meters of gas, or almost 10% more than the five-year average. Entsog, as well as the European Commission, have both urged participants in the market to begin filling up storages as soon as possible to compensate for lower than expected LNG supply this summer.
The benchmark contract on the European carbon markets was down by 0.46 euros at 73.26 euro per metric ton. (Reporting and editing by Nina Chestney.)
(source: Reuters)
