An industrial dispute at liquid natural gas factories in Australia has raised fresh concerns over gas supply security in Europe, especially after gas prices had already significantly surged in the European Union market.
The TTF futures contract for one-month delivery at the Amsterdam Stock Exchange was traded at 40.41 euros per megawatt-hour (MWh). This is an 11% increase compared to Friday. Meanwhile, the price soared by nearly 18% to its highest level in about two weeks.
This price spike is due to reports suggesting that workers at a liquid natural gas factory in Australia are preparing to strike if wage negotiations don’t conclude positively by Wednesday. The industrial strike could commence by September 2, potentially causing disruptions in Australia’s supply. This could impact up to 10% of global liquid natural gas exports, a situation that has already alarmed European traders.
According to the latest data from the European Storage Association, the filling level in all German storage systems was 92.74% as of August 19. Gas reserves have been replenished for months and are considerably higher than the comparative figures from the previous year. This increase in the gas reserve level also includes the rise in liquid gas imports.
At the same time, the European natural gas price is much lower than the level it was at before the outbreak of the war in Ukraine in February 2022. A record price of more than 300 euros per megawatt-hour was paid last summer.
