19
Apr
2023

Pricewatch | 19 Apr 2023 | Gas Matters Today

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European and US natural gas prices soared on Tuesday on expectations of colder-than-average weather and a surprise release from Gazprom that shook the market.

“The weather forecasts currently agree that after a quite warm end to this week will see cold weather again in northern Europe during the last week of April. This led to a bullish development on the European gas markets yesterday, where prices rose amid the expected increasing demand,” Energi Danmark said in a note.

NBP increased by 3.7% to USD 12.66/MMBtu, while TTF saw a 4.3% advance to USD 13.72/MMBtu. Energi Danmark pointed out that the prices remain relatively close to the 14-month low reached in March.

In addition, the market was taken by surprise by an announcement from Gazprom, which commented on the end of the gas injection season in Europe.

The company said Europe had been helped by relatively mild weather this winter, which may not be the case next year.

Gazprom said: “This [storage refilling] will be very difficult to do, given the politically motivated decisions aimed at refusing to import Russian pipeline gas. The volume of gas available on the European market will be greatly affected by competition for LNG.”

Meanwhile, some EU members have started talking up the 11th sanctions package against Russia to further limit Russian imports, this time LNG. This comes as some member states have continued buying the fuel from Russia.

In the US, Henry Hub rose for the third time in a row. Tuesday’s front-month contract increased 4% to USD 2.37/MMBtu on growing confidence in a chillier late-April and softer production.

Front-month futures and indexes at last close with day-on-day changes (click to enlarge): Time references based on London GMT. Brent, WTI, NBP, TTF and EU CO2 data from ICE. Henry Hub, JKM and API2 data from CME. Prices in USD/MMBtu based on exchange rates at last market close. All monetary values rounded to nearest whole cent/penny. Text and graphic copyright © Gas Strategies, all rights.

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