Gas Summary At European Close: TTF Rises
TTF front month has extended gains today as cooler temperatures, above-normal storage withdrawals and increased Egyptian LNG competition supported prices, though tentative optimism over future Russia-Ukraine peace talks tapered the rally during the afternoon session.
• TTF MAR 25 up 1.7% at 54.35€/MWh
• Temperatures in NW Europe are forecast slightly below normal this week and could fall further into mid month before a recovery back towards normal after.
• Norwegian pipeline supplies to Europe recover to 329.4mcm/d today after unplanned outages had driven supply to a low of 312.3mcm/d on Feb. 4, according to Bloomberg.
• Ukrainian gas imports are set to double today for the second consecutive day to almost 11 mcm, Reuters reports.
• An end to the Russia-Ukraine conflict could see up to 35bcm of Russian pipeline gas return to Europe, according to an Equinor executive.
• Above normal European gas storage withdrawals this week have pushed stores down to 51.30% full on Feb. 4, according to GIE, compared to the previous five year average of 59.0%.
• US Plaquemines LNG plant loaded six cargoes in January, following its first ever cargo in December 2024, as the plant ramps up output, ICIS vessel tracking data shows.
• Russia’s Gazprom began sending gas to Slovakia via the Turkstream pipeline on February 1, the CEO of SPP said on Thursday.
• Egypt is seeking more spot LNG cargoes, even after recent multi-month deals with Shell and TotalEnergies, Bloomberg reports.