2024-01-24 06:35:00
EUROPEAN GAS PRICES DOWN
BLOOMBERG - Jan 22, 2024 - European energy prices tumbled, with natural gas futures hitting a six-month low as a new Atlantic storm brought unseasonable warmth and boosted wind-power generation.
Benchmark gas futures dropped as much as 6.4%, falling to the lowest since July. Intraday power prices in Germany and France fell below zero for several hours. They turn negative when supply outstrips demand.
Hurricane-force winds brought by Storm Isha are disrupting travel across northern Europe and leading to power cuts in some areas. Still, elevated wind generation offers some respite for the region’s energy supplies after a recent cold blast. Some models point to unseasonably mild weather well into early February.
Europe is benefiting from record renewables power installations last year, together with massive gas stockpiling and a relatively mild winter — some cold snaps aside. With temperatures recovering, gas demand for heating and power generation should drop, helping to keep energy prices in check after a recent rebound.
Nordic wind power output surged to a record 25,723 megawatts, according to grid data compiled by Bloomberg. Wind generation in Germany is also on course to hit a new high, topping the previous record reached just before Christmas, according to a Bloomberg model. Wind output in the UK is below the December high, but still covered about 50% of the nation’s total energy mix early Monday, with gas contributing only about 20%, grid data show.
“European natural gas prices have softened significantly mostly because this winter has largely been milder than normal,” according to Citigroup Inc.’s energy research strategists Anthony Yuen and Maggie Xueting Lin. “Europe should get through this winter with enough natural gas in storage.”
Intraday power fell as low as -€14.88 per megawatt-hour for Germany earlier on Monday, and to -€15.20 per megawatt-hour in France, according to prices on Epex Spot SE. Day-ahead gas prices in the UK dropped as much as 5.3%.
Benchmark Dutch front-month gas traded 4.7% lower at €27.10 a megawatt-hour by 10:35 a.m. in Amsterdam.
The drop comes even though tensions in the Middle East are still running high — a driver that caused a rally in gas prices in October.
“European gas seems to neglect the risk of the Israel-Hamas war escalating into a regional conflict amid robust storage stockpiles, ample supply and weak industrial demand,” Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Patricio Alvarez said.
-----
Earlier:
2023, September, 12, 08:50:00
EUROPEAN INDUSTRIAL CRISIS
The record-high prices that were triggered by Russia’s squeeze on deliveries last year are now gone, but worsening economic conditions are hitting demand just as hard. Gas usage across Europe’s industrial landscape is projected to remain about 20% below 2021 levels.
2023, July, 21, 06:55:00
EUROPEAN GAS PRICES UP
Benchmark futures settled 3.9% higher after another session of sharp price moves. Searing temperatures in parts of the region and global competition for liquefied natural gas continue to provide upward pressure — even as flows from Norway, Europe’s top supplier, return to levels last seen in April.
2023, March, 15, 07:10:00
EUROPEAN ENERGY CHANGES
As the EU pushes more broadly to bolster clean energy, it’s also responding to concerns that green industries could emigrate to the US and China, with the price that Europe pays for its energy a driving factor.
2023, March, 1, 11:20:00
EUROPEAN ENERGY COOPERATION
"Nuclear energy is one of many tools to achieve our climate goals, to generate base-load electricity and to ensure security of supply," the French ministry noted.
2023, February, 27, 10:05:00
EUROPE WITHOUT RUSSIAN GAS
At the same time, Russian LNG imports into the EU rose by around a third to 14.1 million mt (19 Bcm), but it was LNG from other sources -- the US in particular -- that helped fill some of the gap left by lost Russian gas.
2023, February, 27, 10:00:00
EUROPEAN ENERGY CRACK
Even though Europe has significantly cut its reliance on Russian gas, a lot of the storage that they used to cut the reliance was actually Russian gas from the past.
2023, February, 22, 11:35:00
EUROPEAN GAS CONSUMPTION DOWN
Overall gas use in the 27-nation European Union plunged by 19.3% from August to January compared with the five-year average for the same period,
