Fluctuating course of gas prices in Europe
Natural gas prices in Europe fluctuate amid supply concerns over the possibility of strikes by workers at Australian liquefied natural gas (LNG) plants.
On TTF, the Netherlands-based virtual natural gas trading point with the deepest depth in Europe, the gas price per megawatt hour for September futures contracts closed yesterday at 39.8 euros.
Prices, which rose to 42.3 euros per megawatt-hour after today’s open, traded at 38 euros as of 11:20am TSI.
The increase in prices reached 30 percent during the day yesterday.
TTF price of 38 Euros means that the price of a thousand cubic meters of gas is 404.3 Euros (445.52 dollars) means.
For natural gas imports from Turkey, the TTF price is largely taken into account in the price calculation.
POSSIBILITY OF STRIKE RAISES PRICES IN AUSTRALIA
Gasoline prices rose sharply as workers at the large LNG plant owned by Chevron and Woodside Energy Group in Australia were likely to go on strike.
The strikes, likely to disrupt half of Australia’s total LNG export capacity, could divert Asian consumers to different suppliers for LNG supplies and increase supply competition with Europe.
Although Australia’s direct supply of LNG to Europe is limited, the fact that Russian gas supplies to the continent have declined significantly after the Russia-Ukraine War has increased reliance on LNG imports from Europe.
Therefore, supply concerns in global LNG markets directly affect gas prices in Europe, and ongoing risks cause price fluctuations.
‘THE ENERGY CRISIS IS NOT OVER YET’ THE WARNING WAS MADE
Expected maintenance work later this month on pipelines in Norway, which supplies gas to Europe, also supports price volatility as gas supplies decline.
The CEO of the German energy company E.ON, Leonhard Birnbaum, also stated yesterday that European natural gas imports from Russia have fallen rapidly, this situation has structurally changed the European market and therefore prices in the wholesale energy markets will remain high in the near future.
Birnbaum had warned that the continent’s energy crisis was not over yet. (AA)