Gas Price Volatility Driven By Supply-Related News

European LNG prices rose 2.5% yesterday to EUR 29.13 after a low of EUR 28.05. They are now up 6.5% in April. They peaked on April 17 and while prices have been volatile they have trended lower since then as storage levels remain seasonally high. Gas rose on Wednesday following the passage of the foreign aid bill in the US senate which included a broadening of sanctions on Iranian oil.

• While markets have relaxed following the Iran-Israel attacks, gas remains alert to the risk that Iran closes the Strait of Hormuz which is vital to Qatar’s LNG shipments.
• A gas leak at Norway’s Hammerfest LNG facility has caused an outage which is expected to continue until Friday.
• US natural gas prices fell sharply on Wednesday by 8.1% to $1.67 due to mild weather and high inventories which are expected to have increased 83 bcf last week (EIA data released later today). Prices are now down 5.6% this month. The LNG Freeport export terminal has begun partial shipments after being offline. Excess supply has prompted a number of producers to reduce output.
• North Asian gas prices rose 2.1% to be up around 10% in April to date.