Natural gas prices in Europe exceeded $3,000/tcm for the first time since the beginning of March

Front Month natural gas futures prices (September-booked resource) on the Dutch TTF hub during trading on August 22 exceeded $3,000/tcm. Thus, prices reached the highest level since the beginning of March, when Europe saw a sharp increase after the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Compared to Friday, futures prices increased by 20%, and since the beginning of the month - by 1.5 times.

Natural gas prices in Europe reached €292/MWh. At the time of transfer, the price exceeded 138,000 UAH/tcm (including VAT), more than thirty the prices on the Ukrainian market.

The main reason for the increase in gas prices in Europe is Gazprom's announcement at the end of last week about the shutdown of Nord Stream for three days (from August 31 to September 2, 2022). Market participants fear that Russia may not resume supplies after this stoppage.

In addition, gas supplies from Norway remain tight, with Norwegian gas station operator Gassco announcing further supply cuts.