European Gas Prices Slip Amid Low Storage
On Thursday European wholesale natural gas prices retreated, with the Dutch front‑month contract at the TTF hub falling 1.44% to €59.49 per megawatt‑hour, slipping back below the psychologically important €60/MWh level. Britain’s comparable wholesale gas contract declined 1.56% to 143.80 pence per therm.
The pull‑back followed a sharp rally the previous day that had been driven by joint U.S. and Saudi strikes in Iraq and subsequent Iranian missile launches, events that had lifted crude oil and gas futures. Traders opted to take profits on Thursday while still processing fresh U.S. military strikes in Iran.
Physical supply fundamentals helped temper the price decline. High regional prices near €60/MWh kept the price differential attractive for Atlantic‑Basin LNG cargoes, ensuring a steady flow of U.S. LNG deliveries that were redirected from Asian markets toward Europe. In addition, reliable pipeline flows from Norway resumed after the completion of seasonal maintenance, easing immediate supply tightness.
Despite the day’s price losses, underground gas storage across the European Union remains only about 55% full, considerably below the five‑year seasonal average and short of the pace required to meet pre‑winter refill targets ahead of the heating season that begins on 1 November.
Analysts cautioned that the broader outlook for European natural gas stays precarious. Ongoing transit risks in the Strait of Hormuz keep energy markets on edge, and global central banks continue to maintain elevated short‑term interest rates, factors that together suggest volatility will persist across European gas contracts through the remainder of the summer.