On Friday morning, Dutch and British wholesale gas prices were in a softer demand, thus making for lower prices. This comes despite the Australian strikes and reportedly Norwegian outage extensions.
A perfect storm for the global gas market
The workforce of Gorgon and Wheatstone Australia supply 5% of global gas, and as of Thursday, they extended their strike over the initially agreed six days. According to industry experts, workers’ unions can continue to strike for up to 24 hours each day and refuse to load tankers and shipments.
Norway, however, is determined to continue working the supply chain and deliver natural gas to Europe while simultaneously working to decarbonize its energy systems.
Espen Barth Eide, Minister of Climate and the Environment of Norway, noted:
We think it’s strategically important that we uphold these deliveries while there is still use but we also work for the elimination of use, for the transition from natural gas.
Gas analyst Tomasz Marcin Kowalski stated:
Warm weather and strong wind speed in the UK and Europe will curb gas for power demand.
Despite the Australian strikes and Norwegian outages, Europe’s gas storage sites remain more than 93.3% full, according to the latest data from Gas Infrastructure Europe.
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This is being compounded by the Russia-Ukraine war and the reduced opportunity for Europe to purchase Russian gas.
As a result, the EU is sending gas reserves to Ukraine thanks to the country’s large gas storage capacity.
Experts, meanwhile, have noted that the UK’s decreased demand for gas across the globe is worrisome as the country also moves into winter months.
