European Natural Gas Prices Rise by 35 Percent, but Still Remain Low – Analysis

This week alone, European natural gas became 35 percent more expensive, the strongest increase since August last year. But the price is still relatively low: at the beginning of this year more than 80 dollars per megawatt hour was paid and in the summer of last year the price of natural gas even reached a peak of more than 300 euros per megawatt hour.

In recent months, the natural gas price on the leading TTF exchange has systematically fallen due to high stocks. But the bottom now seems to have been reached. There is increasing competition from Asia in the liquefied natural gas (LNG) market. On the other hand, the warm temperatures in Europe are causing an increase in electricity consumption (air conditioning), with a great deal of energy being generated by gas-fired power stations.