ING analysts Warren Patterson and Ewa Manthey note European natural gas prices have rallied as Middle East tensions raise risks to global LNG trade, with EU storage well below its five‑year average. For US natural gas, they highlight a slightly smaller‑than‑expected inventory draw, leaving storage below both year‑ago levels and the five‑year average.

European rally and tighter US balances

"European natural gas prices rallied further yesterday amid the growing tension in the Middle East."

"Escalation in the Middle East would leave a sizeable amount of global LNG trade at risk, and at a time when the EU holds lower than usual gas inventories."

"EU gas storage is less than 32% full at the moment, well below the five-year average of 49% full."

"For US natural gas, inventories fell by 144bcf over the week, slightly less than the 149bcf the market was expecting."

"This leaves total US natural gas storage at 2.07tcf, which is 2.8% below year-ago levels and also 5.6% below the five-year average."

(This article was created with the help of an Artificial Intelligence tool and reviewed by an editor.)