European natural gas prices up 2% to €32.6/MWh amid supply disruptions and weak demand

European natural gas prices edged up 2% to €32.6 ($35.41) per megawatt-hour on Friday, reflecting a market grappling with supply disruptions and weak demand.

This increase comes after a 2.1% decline on Thursday and a 4.3% surge on Wednesday, suggesting a potential modest weekly gain.

The market’s volatility is underscored by Europe’s heightened dependence on global gas markets following the recent energy crisis.

Supply concerns escalate

Traders, who were previously complacent about supply issues, are now concerned as a result of unexpected shutdowns, milder weather conditions, and greater worldwide rivalry for gas cargoes.

Among the most recent developments is the outage of Australia’s Ichthys LNG export facility, which poses a threat to tightening global supplies despite the comeback of flows from Norway and the restart of exports from a major US LNG plant following Hurricane Beryl.

Despite the complex supply difficulties, natural gas demand remains low, with major firms such as Italy’s Eni SpA reporting a significant 16% drop in second-quarter consumption.

This drop in demand is due, in part, to fewer industrial operations, which has larger economic ramifications for the gas market environment.

US natural gas futures dropped on higher storage build

According to a recent report, on Thursday US natural gas futures fell to $2.05 per MMBtu after the EIA revealed a larger-than-expected storage construction.

Last week, US utilities added 22 billion cubic feet (Bcf) of gas to storage, above market estimates of a 15-Bcf rise. Gas storage levels are currently 16.4% higher than the 5-year average.

Despite an increase in output in April and May, which prompted businesses such as EQT and Chesapeake Energy to ramp up production, natural gas prices are expected to fall for a second week due to higher supply. Extreme heat in August is likely to increase gas consumption for generating energy to power air conditioners.

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