BAKU, Azerbaijan, November 18. Natural gas prices in Europe continue to soften as the above average level of storage and a late start of the heating season continue to outbalance supply side risks, Trend reports with reference to Fitch Solutions.
“After a robust decline in price over late Q322 and early Q422,
natural gas prices start to rebound amid seasonal supply in
November 2022. Dutch TTF prices have declined by 66 percent in
November from highs in August 2022. The downward trend in natural
gas prices in Europe
was driven by a slate of factors. Most importantly, European
countries have intensified filling up their storage and reached the
target 80 percent of filled storage capacity well ahead of
schedule, which saw regional gas benchmarks decline,” reads the
latest report released by Fitch Solutions.
As of November 13, natural gas storage of EU is filled in 96 percent but recent drawdowns will mark this as the peak of storage for the season.
“The late start of heating season with above-average temperature across Europe in October and early November added to the price decline momentum. The start of the traditional heating season was delayed by weeks which allowed for stronger storage injections amid weak demand form the residential sector. On the supply side, we point at progress in construction of infrastructure assets allowing for natural gas supply diversification as a positive signal to the markets, allowing prices to settle lower and improving the supply outlook for 2023. Here we point at completion of the construction of the Wilhelmshaven LNG terminal in German and the start-up of reverse flows of natural gas from France to Germany, which is a further sign of expanding interconnectivity between European partners which should support greater supply balance between storage and import sites across the continent.”
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