Investment funds reduced their net long exposure in TTF natural Gas by 14.3TWh to 46.2TWh last week, mainly due to new short positions. Despite storage levels slipping to just under 83%—below the five-year average—European Gas prices remain range-bound. In carbon markets, funds made their first weekly reduction this month, trimming EU allowance holdings slightly by 821 contracts, ING's commodity experts Ewa Manthey and Warren Patterson note.

EU Gas storage dips below five-year average ahead of winter

"The latest positioning data shows that investment funds cut their net long in Title Transfer Facility (TTF) natural Gas by 14.3TWh over the last reporting week to 46.2TWh – a move driven largely by fresh shorts entering the market. European natural Gas prices continue to trade in a largely range-bound manner as we head further into the heating season, despite EU storage standing at just under 83% full."

"This is below the 5-year average of 92% and is slowly drawing. Meanwhile, investment funds marginally cut their net long in EU allowances by 821 contracts to 93,894, a marginal decline, but it’s the first week of fund selling this month."