Supply concerns pushed the price of European natural gas higher at the start of trading on Monday.
In the morning, the trend-setting futures contract TTF for delivery in one month was traded on the Amsterdam Stock Exchange at EUR 40.41 per megawatt hour (MWh). That is 11 percent more than on Friday. In the meantime, the price had skyrocketed by almost 18 percent and had thus reached its highest level in almost two weeks.
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The reason for the price jump is the news that workers at a liquid natural gas (LNG) plant in Australia are preparing to go on strike if no agreement is reached in wage negotiations on Wednesday. The industrial action could start on September 2nd. The possibility of supply disruptions in Australia, which could affect 10% of global LNG exports, has European traders on edge already this month.
Analyst Carsten Fritsch from Commerzbank recently pointed out that less natural gas could also come onto the market from Norway in the short term. Further maintenance work in an important gas field was required there at the end of the month. Fluctuations on the European gas market are therefore likely to remain high for the time being, despite well-stocked natural gas storage facilities.
According to the latest data from the European storage association GIE, the filling level in all German storage systems was 92.74 percent on August 19. The gas reserves have been replenished for months and are well above the comparative value of the previous year. The reasons for the higher level include imports of liquid gas.
Meanwhile, the price of European natural gas is well below the level it was just before the start of the war in Ukraine in February 2022. A record price of more than 300 euros per MWh was paid last summer.
/la/jha/
AMSTERDAM (dpa-AFX)