The price of gas in Europe exceeded $500 per thousand cubic meters
The new indicator is the highest for the last three and a half years since the beginning of March 2018.
In Europe, the spot price of gas has set another record over the past three years, following the rise in gas prices in Asia.
The value of the futures contract closest to the spot quotes — the September futures for the TTF gas hub index on ICE Futures exceeded $500 per thousand cubic meters ($510 per thousand cubic meters, or 40.79 euros per thousand kWh).
On the eve of the auction, the spot contract for TTF closed at $484 per thousand cubic meters.
The indicator is the highest for the last three and a half years since the beginning of March 2018. Then the cold front The Beast from the East raged in Europe, and the price soared to thousands of dollars per thousand cubic meters.
A day earlier, the nearest (September) futures on the Asian spot index Platts JKM rose to $539 per thousand cubic meters. The dynamics of Asian quotes after a few hours lays the trend for European trading. The most expensive contract of the next winter — for February 2022, meanwhile, is already worth $594. The JKM index reflects the spot market value of LNG shipments to Japan, South Korea, China, and Taiwan. Prices in Asia consistently exceed the European spot — in June, the “Asian premium” to the TTF price was up to 20%.
Against this background, Europe gets less and fewer LNG supplies. The flow of regasified liquefied natural gas from European terminals to the gas transportation system in July 2021 is reduced by 23% compared to July 2020 and by 31% compared to July of pre-crisis 2019. The drop in deliveries compared to the previous month, by June 2021, is also a noticeable 13%. The level of LNG reserves in the tanks of the EU receiving terminals is also falling — the average level for the last week is already 19% lower than for the first week of the month.
