The price of natural gas yesterday registered a day with high volatility in the Dutch TTF reference market that began with a rise of 4% but ended up registering a price drop and led to the loss of 50 euros/MWh (49.73 euros/ MWh), 1.5% less than at the opening after the reassuring message from the European Commission about the impact of the closure of the Russian gas valve through Ukraine to Europe.
The European Commission insisted yesterday that there are no supply risks and that alternative routes are already prepared
The only problems that are currently being recorded are limited to Moldova, where the independence region of Transnistria warned this past Thursday of a stoppage in the industry.
According to the Minister of Economic Development of the region, Sergei Obolonik, only companies in the food industry continue to operate for the moment.
Obolonik, quoted by the region’s news agency, stated that the situation is still “manageable”, but “if the problem with gas supply is not resolved, companies will lose the opportunity to resume production.
Transnistria cut off electricity supplies to the rest of Moldova on Wednesday following the cessation of Russian gas supplies, but the plant has started using coal.
In the rest of the markets, for the moment, tranquility reigns thanks to the fact that gas storage levels have been maintained at generally high volumes.
At the beginning of December, the storages had a fill level of 85%. According to the European Commission, these levels are currently at 72% compared to the usual 69% for this time of year. In some countries like Holland the level is lower. The stored volume is 10 bcm below the 2023 values, anticipating a tighter market in summer due to injection needs.
The increase in demand in November forced the withdrawal of gas from storage to cover consumption peaks for electricity generation, but the supply of LNG (+17% compared to the previous month) has been able to replenish it, although it is lower than the values of 2023 (-2bcm, -15%).
Gas demand in Europe has grown by 13% compared to 2023, around 6 bcm. The increase in consumption for generation, due to the absence of wind resources, has represented 70% of this increase. The drop in temperatures causes a 4% increase in domestic consumption, while industrial consumption increases by 5%.
In the case of Spain, total gas consumption in 2024 reached 311.7 TWh, 4.2% less than in 2023, due to lower gas consumption for electricity generation. Specifically, the demand for generation stood at 74.7 TWh, which represents a decrease of 22%. Conventional gas demand, intended for consumption by homes, businesses and industries, reached 237 TWh in 2024, mainly due to greater industrial consumption, which increased by 4.2% to reach 176.7 TWh.
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