The gas market remains in the grip of Chevron's strikes. Although this was only noticeable to a limited extent on the European gas market. For the time being, demand in the Australian core market, the Asian market, remains manageable.
The gas market has now returned to much calmer waters than about three weeks ago, but is still quite volatile. On Monday September 5, the TTF stood at €34,45 per megawatt hour. The next day, the gas price reached the lowest point of the week, at €31,07. The price then rose until Monday, September 11. That day the TTF reached a quotation of €35,85.
The gas market is still in the grip of strikes at Chevron. The threat of industrial action in the Australian market has been looming for weeks. The Australian LNG exporter supplies approximately 5% of all LNG on the world market. For a while, the strike seemed to have less grip on the market. After reported attempts at mediation between the company and Australian unions, the price on the TTF dropped to €31,07. However, the hope for a joint solution soon appeared to have faded and the unions decided to go on strike. That same day, fifty employees left the first drilling platform.
The fact that the gas price does not rise above €40 as with the previous threat of about three weeks ago is due to relatively low demand on the Asian market, the main core market of the Australian LNG sector. The Asian LNG price fell on Friday, September 8, despite the start of the strikes at Chevron. This is striking, since Australian LNG is mainly sold on the Asian market.
Yet the danger is far from over. It is a matter of time before demand increases due to the arrival of the heating season. An old risk may also resurface and that is growing demand from China. The Asian country has now ordered twelve additional shiploads of LNG for a period until the end of 2024, in addition to the gas that it has contacted for a longer period of time.
The American LNG price did increase. This is mainly due to growing demand from Europe. Gas demand in Europe is currently increasing due to the approaching autumn. Although hardly any gas is required for heating homes, the gas demand for electricity is increasing because solar panels supply less power. Although this demand also remains relatively limited due to the high filling rates. Europe's gas reserves are currently 94% full. The additional gas supply should mainly ensure that the gas reserves do not have to be additionally replenished.
Norwegian fields
The fact that the European gas price appears to be sensitive to the American LNG rates is still due to the work in the Norwegian gas sector. Due to maintenance, volumes from Norway have been almost halved for several weeks now. Maintenance of the large Troll field in particular continues to put a lot of pressure on the gas market. On Monday, September 12, the work was postponed again.