Pricewatch | 20 Jul 2022 | Gas Matters Today

European natural gas prices diverged on Tuesday, with NBP hitting a three-day high and TTF recording a minor loss.

The front-month NBP contract closed 12.1% higher at the equivalent of USD 26.03/MMBtu.

NBP rallied as the UK experienced its first ever day of temperatures over 40C, with gas-fired power generation cranked up to meet increasing demand.

As for TTF, the Dutch marker dipped 1% amid reports suggesting Gazprom will resume flows via the Nord Stream 1 pipeline on Thursday following planned maintenance on the pipeline.

However, during his trip to Iran, Russian president Vladimir Putin suggested Nord Stream 1 flows could dip next week. At a press conference in Tehran on Tuesday, Putin said turbines – used at a compressor station which feeds gas into NS1 – will need to undergo maintenance and suggested flows could dip to 30 MMcm/d from 26 July. 

Across the pond, US gas benchmark Henry Hub fell 2.9% to close at USD 7.26/MMBtu.

International oil benchmark Brent continued to climb, closing 1% higher at USD 107.35/barrel. US benchmark WTI dipped as the front-month contract rolled over to September, however the September-dated contract closed USD 1.32/barrel higher on Tuesday compared to the contract’s close on Monday.

Front-month futures and indexes at last close with day-on-day changes (click to enlarge):

Time references based on London GMT. Brent, WTI, NBP, TTF and EU CO2 data from ICE. Henry Hub, JKM and API2 data from CME. Prices in USD/MMBtu based on exchange rates at last market close. All monetary values rounded to nearest whole cent/penny. Text and graphic copyright © Gas Strategies, all rights.