Mid-Day Gas Summary: TTF Rises On Strikes Begin

TTF surges back up towards the weekly highs from Monday after unsuccessful talks between Chevron and unions resulted in the start of industrial action at two of Chevron’s LNG facilities this morning. Prices received additional support from outage extensions in Norway throughout the session.

• TTF OCT 23 up 9.2% at 35.77€/MWh
• NBP OCT 23 up 11.3% at 88.5p/th
• JKM Oct 23 up 4.9% at 13.66$/mmbtu
• Industrial action at the Gorgon and Wheatstone LNG facilities started 06:00BST on Friday and stoppages will be up to 11 hours per day until 13 Sep before increasing to 24-hour stoppages from 14 Sep. Strikes are unlikely to have an affect on LNG shipments this week.
• Norwegian pipeline supplies to Europe down at 130mcm/d today after extensions to key capacity reductions at Troll and Kollsnes this week. Maintenance at the 153mcm/d Kollsnes facility has been extended one more day until 10 Sept. Works at the Aasta Hansteen and Dvalin fields have also been extended until 11 and 10 Sept, respectively.
• European natural gas storage was at 93.47% full on a 6 Sep according to GIE data compared to the five year average for this time of year of 82.4%. Injection rates have dropped as total storage levels approach capacity and have averaged about 1,280GWh/d in the last week compared to the five year average for the period of just under 2,740GWh/d.
• The latest Baker Hughes rig count data is due for release at 13:00ET. The gas rig count was last week down to a new low for the year of 114.
• The EU has no immediate plans to ban Russian LNG despite soaring imports according to Spain's energy minister amid fears of another price spike.
• LNG sendout to Europe was at 322mcm/d on 6 Sep as flows remain relatively unchanged so far this month and still just below last year levels.
• US LNG exports are more profitable to Asia in October, while Europe is the premium market in November and December, according to BNEF.