At the height of the heating season in Europe, gas prices fell to their lowest level since August of last year.
In Europe, spot gas prices reached their lowest level since August last year. Even problems with the supply of liquefied gas from Qatar through the Red Sea did not prevent prices from falling.
Thus, the price of February futures at the TTF hub in the Netherlands fell by 7% on Monday to 29.74 euros per MWh or about $342 per thousand cubic meters, according to data from the ICE Futures exchange.
Gas is getting cheaper despite the fact that last week Qatar suspended the movement of LNG tankers in the Red Sea to Europe after the attack by the US and allied Houthi bases in Yemen.
According to Bloomberg, at least five Qatari LNG tankers have suspended movement on this route since Friday, January 12. Qatar is the second largest supplier of liquefied natural gas to Europe after the United States; last year the country occupied about 13% of the European market.
However, gas reserves in European storage facilities remain high and demand remains relatively low. According to Gas Infrastructure Europe, Europe’s storage facilities are 79.72% full in winter.
“Gas demand across the European Union remained below pre-conflict levels in 2023, and for most of the year will also be below 2022 levels, which are already lower,” said an analyst of RBC Europe Ltd. Adnan Danani.
The UK, France and Germany – the region’s biggest energy markets – are expected to experience cold temperatures early this week, boosting demand for gas for heating and power generation.
However, low industrial consumption, high inventories and significant LNG imports in northwestern European countries may hinder price increases. But there will soon be a significant shift towards warmer weather in Central Europe, which will contribute to further declines.
It was previously reported that the Houthis had mistakenly attacked a Russian oil tanker in the Red Sea.
Source: korrespondent
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