Gas price went up to $186.3 per thousand cubic meters in Europe

In Western Europe, on October 12, spot prices for gas at the Dutch hub TTF went up to $186.3 per 1,000 cubic meters (€ 13,726 per 1 MWh), November futures are trading slightly higher - $187 per 1,000 cubic meters, Kommersant reports.

This is the highest level since the beginning of December 2019, when gas prices began to plummet on record as concerns about the cessation of gas transit through Ukraine eased.

Prices reached a historic low of $34 per 1,000 cubic meters on May 21 against the backdrop of a multiple drop in gas demand in Europe amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

In Central Europe, at the German hub, NCG and the Austrian Baumgarten (gas hub CEGH) prices are slightly lower: spot on October 12 – $182 per 1,000 cubic meters (€ 13,414 per 1 MWh) and $171.3 per 1,000 cubic meters (€12.62 per 1 MWh), November contracts are trading at $186.3 and $180 per 1,000 cubic meters, respectively.

Relatively low prices in Central Europe are due to the fact that consumers there receive mainly Russian gas, which has fallen in price since the beginning of the fourth quarter.

At the same time, in Western Europe, quotations are directly affected by the supply of liquefied gas, which during the summer has seriously decreased and now significantly lag behind last year's level.

However, rising prices could make such supplies, including from the US, profitable again. For example, gas futures on the American Henry Hub, on expectations of an increase in exports and a decrease in production, rose in the winter months - December, January, and February to $3.22 per MMBtu ($126 per 1,000 cubic meters), $3.359 per MMBtu ($131, 8 per 1,000 cubic meters) and $3,315 per MMBtu ($130 per 1,000 cubic meters), respectively.

Analysts at S&P Global Platts expect that the growth in demand for LNG in China and Northeast Asia, coupled with a simultaneous rise in prices (on October 9, a ten-month maximum was recorded – $5.54 per MMBtu, or $217 per 1,000 cubic meters) will bring LNG production in the United States to full capacity by the end of the fourth quarter.

To recap, Poland fined Gazprom $7.6 billion over Nord Stream 2.

Earlier it was reported that Moldova will store gas in the Ukrainian underground storage facilities.