- European natural gas remains on track for a third consecutive weekly jump.
- Concerns remain about Russia's gas supplies and whether Moscow will choose to slash flows to Europe further.
European natural gas prices are heading for the third consecutive weekly jump as uncertainty remains over Russian supplies.
Dutch TTF futures inched lower Friday to roughly €196.85, but remain on track for a weekly gain of about 3%.
Since one year ago, European natural gas prices has surged 372%, up from about €41 last August.
Yesterday, a report emerged that US supplies could increase as a key export hub in Texas ramps up production faster than anticipated, which would help offset some of Europe's supply concerns.
However, pressures remain high and commentators expect it to worsen as Moscow moves to tighten its supply and leverage energy further as a political weapon. The results are higher inflation, a buckling European economy, and calls from policymakers to ease fuel consumption.
Last week, Russia's Gazprom slashed Nord Stream 1 flows heading to Germany down to 20% capacity. Then, this week Russia cut off flows to Latvia, putting further upward pressure on European natural gas prices.
Bank of America analysts wrote in a note to clients this week that the crisis in Europe is worsening ahead of key winter months when demand is set to increase.
"The European gas situation is quickly moving from our 'bad' to our 'ugly' scenario in the past month," analysts wrote.