Russian natural gas supplies to Germany through the Yamal-Europe pipeline have been stable for the past 24 hours, data from German network operator Gascade showed on Friday. Flows through the pipeline into Germany at the Mallnow metering point on the Polish border were at an hourly volume of more than 10,000,000 kilowatt hours (kWh) on Friday morning, in line with volumes on Wednesday and Thursday and slightly down from over 11,000,000 kWh/h on Tuesday. The pipeline is one of the main routes for Russian gas exports to Europe. Nominations for ...

In stark contrast to crude oil, natural gas appears to be largely immune to the potential impact of the new Omicron coronavirus variant, with prices in all three major regions trading more on expectations around winter supply and demand. For Asian liquefied natural gas futures that means steady as she goes, albeit at historically high prices. For Europe that means prices are still trending up amid low inventories, worries over pipeline supplies from Russia and forecasts for a colder-than-usual winter. And for the United States, it means natural gas futures ...

In announcing project sanction on the Scarborough and Pluto Train 2 project last week, Woodside CEO Meg O’Neill emphasised that as well as being both low carbon and globally cost competitive, it was the strength of demand “particularly in our markets in Asia” that underpinned the US$12 billion investment. I couldn’t agree more, especially with the region’s whopping 21 Mt of LNG demand growth this year putting to bed any fears about a recovery in Asian gas demand after a wobbly 2020. Indeed, it is confidence in the resilience of ...

Royal Dutch Shell Plc RDSa.L shut production at its Prelude floating liquefied natural gas (LNG) site and Chevron Corp CVX.N shut one of three processing units at its Gorgon LNG plant, both off northwestern Australia, the companies said on Friday. The Gorgon and Prelude outages are expected to boost spot LNG prices LNG-AS, which are up about 20% from a month ago. Shell said Prelude was hit by a power outage on Thursday after smoke was detected in an electrical utility area, and the facility is operating on back-up diesel ...

US natural gas inventories fell by 59 Bcf, nearly double the five-year average but in line with market expectations as it matched the S&P Global Platts’ survey of analysts. Storage fields withdrew 59 Bcf for the week ended Nov. 26, according to data the US Energy Information Administration released Dec. 2. The draw doubled the five-year average pull of 31 Bcf and dwarfed last year’s 4 Bcf withdrawal in the corresponding week. The second net withdrawal of the heating season was much stronger than the initial pull of 21 Bcf ...

2021 is set to be another record year for renewable energy installations, with 290 GW of new capacity expected to be built globally, the International Energy Agency said Dec. 1 in its annual Renewables Market Report. Despite volatile energy markets and the rising cost of key raw materials used to make solar panels and wind turbines, the record additions are “yet another sign that a new global energy economy is emerging,” Fatih Birol, executive director at the agency, or IEA, said in a statement. By 2026, global renewables capacity is ...

A simmering threat of sanctions against the operator of the $11 billion Nord Stream 2 pipeline risks shutting off cover from European insurers for the politically-sensitive project to bring Russian gas directly to Germany. Kremlin-backed energy giant Gazprom GAZP.MM leads the consortium which, despite stiff opposition from the U.S. and some European nations, has built the pipeline under the Baltic Sea – bypassing Ukraine amid a geopolitical battle for influence in the region. The U.S. stepped up sanctions on companies linked with the project last week, while Germany’s energy regulator ...

Russian natural gas supplies to Germany through the Yamal-Europe pipeline have been stable for the past 24 hours, data from German network operator Gascade showed on Thursday. Flows through the pipeline into Germany at the Mallnowmetering point on the Polish border were at an hourly volume of more than 10,000,000 kilowatt hours (kWh) on Thursday morning, in line with Wednesday’s volumes and slightly down from over 11,000,000 kWh/h on Tuesday. The pipeline is one of the major routes for Russian gas exports to Europe. Russian gas producer Gazprom did not ...

Some European Union countries including France and Spain stepped up calls to reform the bloc’s energy market rules to cope with high prices, a stance challenged by a rival group of states including Germany, as EU energy ministers met on Thursday. European energy prices surged to record highs in autumn as tight gas supplies collided with high demand in economies recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic. While gas prices have retreated from the record highs seen in October, they remain relatively high. EU member states have struggled to find a common ...

With the European gas market remaining tight and prices still at sustained highs, the outlook for the weather this winter across the continent — and its potential impact on demand — continues to be closely watched. A very cold winter could trigger increased gas demand for heating and power generation at a time when European gas stocks remain well below the average for the time of year and supply from Russia continues to disappoint. According to data from Gas Infrastructure Europe, storage sites in the EU and UK were just ...

China’s rush for long-term LNG contracts with the US has been triggered by record high spot LNG prices but the deals also reflect pent up demand for uncontracted volumes, attractive pricing offered by suppliers, the benefits of US LNG like destination flexibility and optimism about future demand growth. The deals come amid signs of cooperation between Beijing and Washington on issues such as trade, climate and energy, and with China effectively becoming the world’s single-largest LNG importer surpassing Japan, even though a wider easing of geopolitical tensions is unlikely. So ...

Greece’s largest power utility Public Power Corp. (PPC) on Tuesday posted a 10% drop in operating profit on soaring gas and carbon emission costs. PPC, which plans to switch off all its coal-fired plants bar one by 2023, said earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) came in at 626.5 million euros ($705.38 million), down from 696 million euros in the nine months to September last year. Chief Executive Officer Georgios Stassis said the utility was still resilient thanks to hedging and will meet its target of keeping full-year ...

France has sufficient gas storage to meet demand during the winter months, though careful monitoring of stocks will be necessary to guarantee security of supply in case of a cold snap, network operators GRTgaz and Terega said on Tuesday. However, too much stress on storage at the start of winter would make the system increasingly dependent on gas imports, they added. French gas storage was 95% full on Nov. 1 due to a high fill rate during the summer months as the French PEG gas price remained 1% to 2% ...

European power prices are forecast to ease from current record levels starting in 2023, but the current rally in gas will have “enduring effects” on the forward curve, according to S&P Global Platts Analytics. Its latest five-year forecast sees annual power prices dropping from average levels above Eur100/MWh in 2021 and 2022 to around Eur80/MWh for 2023-24 and down to around Eur60/MWh by 2026-27. For Germany, the five-year forecast average is now double compared to actual average prices over 2016-2020. “The gas-driven surge in power prices in recent months is ...

The NYMEX Henry Hub prompt-month contract tumbled past a key technical support level in Nov. 30 trading, as rising production and a mild start to the heating season ease the market’s fears over supply heading into winter. NYMEX January shed 29 cents to settle at $4.57/MMBtu in Nov. 30, falling to the prompt-month contract’s lowest price since Sept. 7. Although the NYMEX prompt-month has bounced around in recent weeks, with daily swings of 20 cents or more not uncommon, prices remained above a key technical support level. The Nov. 30 ...