(Bloomberg) — European natural gas dipped further after US President Donald Trump’s move to punish India for buying Russian crude showed no signs of threatening flows of the heating and power generation fuel.
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Benchmark futures fell as much as 3.8% toward €33 a megawatt-hour, still within a narrow range that’s persisted for more than a month. A steady build-up of the region’s fuel reserves has helped keep concerns over supply risks at bay in recent weeks, even as the deadline Trump imposed on Russia to reach a truce with Ukraine nears.
Oil futures spiked briefly after the White House announced an additional 25% tariff on imports from India, but quickly pared gains. While Trump has threatened to impose further economic penalties on Russia and buyers of its energy — potentially tightening a global supply pool that Europe competes to secure — skepticism on how far the US president will go is keeping gas prices in check for now.
Meanwhile, Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday exchanged “signals” with Trump on the war in Ukraine at Kremlin talks with US envoy Steve Witkoff. The Kremlin is weighing options for a concession that could include an air truce with Ukraine, Bloomberg reported earlier.
While any Russia-related action is unlikely to have a direct impact on European gas balances, traders are on alert for any threats to global supply.
For now, the continent is receiving steady flows, with pipeline shipments from top supplier Norway near maximum capacity ahead of seasonal maintenance later this month. Liquefied natural gas flows are also above seasonal averages.
On Wednesday, SEFE Storage allocated about 3 terawatt-hours of capacity in its Rehden gas facility in Germany, or 100% offered at the auction. The storage is under scrutiny as its refills have been lagging behind this summer.
Dutch front-month futures, Europe’s gas benchmark, fell 3.4% to €33.23 a megawatt-hour at 5:28 p.m. in Amsterdam.
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