BRUSSELS (Euro News ) - European natural gas futures climbed the highest since October 2023 after Russian gas flows to Europe via Ukraine stopped on New Year’s Day.
The price of the Dutch TTF, the benchmark European natural gas climbed by more than 4% to €51 per megawatt-hour, its highest level since October 2023, before easing a little, on the first trading day after Russian gas stopped flowing to Europe via Ukraine.
Freezing temperatures across the north of the region pushed prices up on Thursday morning with a backdrop of losing 5% of the EU’s natural gas import as Russian import stopped entering the European Union via Ukraine on 1 January, after decades of operating, due to a transit deal expiring, raising concerns about faster storage withdrawals.
European gas inventories have been depleted at the fastest pace since 2021, sitting at around 75% due to the particularly cold weather in Europe over the past weeks.
According to the industry organization Gas Infrastructure Europe, the volume of gas in the block’s storage facilities decreased by about 19% from the end of September, when the replenishment season ends, to mid-December.