EUROPE GAS - Prices at a new 15-month high due to cold weather and restocking fears
The Dutch and British wholesale prices of gas rose on Friday morning to a new 15-month high as the cold weather forecasts increased demand. There were also concerns about storage refilling due to tightness on the market.
According to LSEG, the benchmark front-month contract for the Dutch TTF hub rose by 0.78 euros at 51.60 Euros per Megawatt Hour (MWh), which is $15.80/mmBtu at 0948 GMT. This was its highest level since October 20, 2023.
The Dutch March contract increased by 0.50 euros to 52.22 Euro/MWh.
The front-month contract in Britain rose by 2.25 cents to 132.00 pence per therm.
LSEG data shows that the demand for gas heating has increased by 766 gigawatt-hours per day (GWh/d), 73 GWh/d over the weekend, and 43 GWh/d during the week ahead due to a temperature drop on average of 3 degrees Celsius.
Germany has proposed subsidies, and Italy is preparing to start early with seasonal storage.
He added that EU members must have 90% of their storage capacity filled by November. However, they will be facing stiff competition this year from other LNG consumers due to the tightness on the global market.
Gas Infrastructure Europe data showed that EU gas storage was 54.65% full as of Friday.
If February is milder, there could be a slight easing of the current high prices. The market will plateau in the spring and summer at a high level as Europe competes with Asia to fill its LNG storage.
Hungarian Prime Minster Viktor Orban warned on Friday that he would block the next rollover in EU sanctions against Russia, unless Brussels helped achieve a restart of Russian Gas Transit via Ukraine which was stopped on January 1.
The benchmark contract on the European carbon markets was down by 0.60 euros at 82.35 euro per metric ton.
(source: Reuters)
