End of Day Natural Gas Summary: TTF Slumps on Woodside-Union Deal

TTF dropped sharply to levels seen prior the announcement of potential industrial action in Australia after Woodside and the unions agreed to an in-principle agreement averting strike action. Ongoing potential for disruptions from Chevron’s LNG facilities have offered some support.

• TTF SEP 23 down -13.4% at 31.87€/MWh
• TTF WIN 23 down -10.1% at 47.34€/MWh
• The offshore alliance, representing workers at Woodside Energy Group North West Shelf LNG operations said that its reps have endorsed the in-principle agreement reached with Woodside, according to a Facebook post. All members could vote to ratify the deal at 7.30 pm Perth time.
• A union ballot of workers at Chevron’s Gorgon and Wheatstone downstream facilities resulted with workers endorsing industrial action if needed.
• Norwegian pipeline gas flows to Europe fell to the lowest level since 14 July on Thursday as annual maintenance is ramping up. Piped gas flows from Norway to Europe fell to 269.7mcm/d on Thursday, down from last week’s average of 321.1mcm/d.
• European gas storage is up to 91.62% full on a 22 Aug according to GIE data compared to the five year average for this time of year of 78.6%.
• German natural gas consumption last week stood 19.9% below the 2018-2021 average, Bnetza data showed.
• LNG sendout to Europe was at 306mcm/d on 22 Aug and still remains below levels seen this time last year.
• Global supply of LNG is set to rise 6% this winter from a year earlier, to 220m metric tons according to BNEF. Supply is projected to increase from all markets except Qatar over winter 2023-24.
• Imports of LNG into China are projected to be 0.58m mt in the next seven days, according to OilChem Aug. 24.
• LNG - The recovery in Asian LNG demand hasn’t happened as expected so far in 2023 according to Timera Energy.