Mid-Day Gas Summary: TTF Rallies

TTF front month rallies to the highest since June 14 as rising tensions in the Middle East adds to the risks of LNG competition amid an ongoing heatwave in North Asia.

• TTF SEP 24 up 1.1% at 35.48€/MWh
• Hamas political leader Haniyeh was killed by a strike on his home in Tehran, which it claimed was Israeli. Risks of an escalation in conflict in the region may put Israel’s offshore gas fields at risk potentially driving up Egypt’s LNG demand.
• Temperatures in NW Europe are forecast to cool slightly in the next few days but remain above normal throughout the coming two weeks.
• Norwegian pipeline supplies to Europe are up to 344.1mcm/d with Gassco showing outages of 10.7mcm/d extended until August 5.
• European gas storage is up to 84.71% full on July 29 according to GIE compared to the five-year average of 75.5% with injection rates 15.4% below normal last week.
• OMV has been awarded an additional 29 terawatt-hours (TWh) in gas pipeline capacity into Austria up to 2029 the company said Wednesday.
• LNG stockpiles held by Japanese utilities fell 8.51% w/w to 2.15m tons in the week to July 28 from 2.35m tons the previous week, according to data released by the trade ministry.
• Investment fund net long positioning in ICE TTF futures remained relatively unchanged last week, according to the commitment of traders’ data for the week to July 26.
• The LNG vessel Shandong Juniper has diverted away from its previous location of El Salvador towards Asia supported by stronger spot demand in the region according to ICIS.