Supply disruptions pushed up prices: gas in Europe rose by 30%
9 March 16:21
Prices for European natural gas have risen by 30% as the war in the Middle East continues to destabilize energy markets and disrupt maritime transport.
This is according to a Bloomberg article, as reported by "Komersant Ukrainian".
Europe is in a vulnerable position as it ends the heating season with depleted underground storage reserves.
This means that this summer it will have to buy more liquefied natural gas (LNG) cargoes to replenish them, competing with buyers in Asia for a limited pool of supplies if flows from the Middle East fail to reach global markets.
The situation is complicated by the fact that European buyers are forced to compete with Asia for limited resources at a time when traditional fuel flows from the Middle East are effectively blocked.
Gas prices in Europe
According to ExPro, Front Month (April) futures prices for natural gas on the Dutch TTF hub at the opening of trading on Monday, March 9, rose sharply to €68.6/MWh, the highest level in three years, since January 2023. This is evidenced by trading data, ExPro reports.
Compared to Friday’s closing level, gas prices in Europe rose by 29%. When converted, the cost of gas is $840/thousand cubic meters. In the first hour of trading, prices fell slightly to €62.2/MWh, 16.5% higher than on Friday.
European storage facilities were 29.4% full as of March 7.
