Mixed price evolution

European gas prices were mixed yesterday, lacking support to climb much higher in a context of stable Russian flows and rebounding Norwegian flows (at 320 mm cm/day on average, compared to 311 mm cm/day on Friday). Day-ahead prices continued to trade in a wide range across European hubs, with NBP spot prices settling €75/MWh below German THE spot prices yesterday. Indeed, limited storage capacity and a large LNG import infrastructure in the UK are weighing on NBP spot prices while continental spot prices are trading at a much higher level on strong storage injection requirements and limited pipeline flows from Russia.

Note that following European Parliament approval on 23 June, the EU Council had definitively adopted the new rules on minimum gas storage obligations, which require member states to fill storage sites to at least 80% of capacity by 1 November this year, and to 90% by 1 November in subsequent years.

In terms of outlook for today on the supply side, Gazprom announced that Russian gas flows through the Turkstream pipeline resumed after a one-week maintenance. Note that Nordstream 1 annual maintenance will take place between July 11 and July 21. Other supply fundamentals remain largely unchanged with an unplanned outage at the Orman Lange field still constraining Norwegian exports by 13.4 mm cm/day. Prospects of rising wind speeds in Germany for next week could exert some bearish pressure on prompt contracts. Overall we favor a stable to slightly bearish outlook for European gas prices today.

Share this news :

You might also read :

ES-power
March 9, 2022

A long-due recovery of carbon prices

The European power spot prices slightly eased yesterday, weighed by the retreating gas market and forecasts of increased solar generation. The day-ahead prices averaged 449.58€/MWh…
ES-oil
October 7, 2021

Diesel supply and demand shocks

Diesel cracks are soaring globally, which may indicate that there is stronger demand, partly due to oil-to-gas switch and a recovery in aviation demand that reduces…
Join EnergyScan

Get more analysis and data with our Premium subscription

Ask for a free trial here

Don’t have an account yet? 

[booked-calendar]