Russia-Ukraine conflict fueled the prices of Natural Gas in Europe

Russian Natural gas pipeline streams to Europe remain at a portion of their most grounded levels in months despite the conflict in Ukraine, however, the market is tense about any likely interruption in deliveries given how essential imports are for Europe, which has helped in natural gas prices elevating. Natural Gas futures rose sharply when observed on 4^th March, and the April Nymex contract was up 12.3 cents to $4.845/MMBtu. West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures were up $3.49 to $111.16/bbl.

On 3^rd March, Gazprom stated that they are shipping Natural Gas to Europe via Ukraine and the supplies to the overseas market remained strong, since the conflict broke out by the end of Feb 2022. The Henry Hub spot prices recently rose from $4.57 per MMBtu to $4.65 per MMBtu. At the Title Transfer Facility (TTF) in the Netherlands, the liquid Natural Gas spot weekly prices averaged to be $41.06/MMBtu amid Russia’s invasion in Ukraine creating uncertainty in the Natural Gas futures. On the demand front, ongoing estimates have called for cooler temperatures broadening further into March, however, across power generation, followed to a great extent in under chronicled levels lately despite of weak wind generation. The consumption of Natural Gas in all sectors was increased and the power generation sector climbed by 8.8% (2.4 Bcf/d) week over week.

According to ChemAnalyst, the price of Natural Gas is expected to increase with the increase in its consumption in the downstream derivatives market. Strong market sentiments along with insufficient product availability will boost the prices in the upcoming weeks. Natural Gas futures will more likely remain strong amid the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine. Prices of Acetic acid and Methanol is also expected to surge with robust demand from fertilizers and acidifiers enterprises.