After yesterday’s high gains in Natural gas prices, not only natural gas spot price but also future price (Henry Hub) April devilry as it rose by 3.15% to reach 3.93$/mmbtu.
There are some speculations around this recent rise, as reported on the Street, and link it to the recent soaring price of oil.
Libya, one of the major countries, that is on the news, is not only an oil producer, but also a natural gas exporter. According to EIA, Libya has 54.7trillion cubic feet as of January 2011, the fourth largest in Africa, after Nigeria, Algeria and Egypt, in which the last country also suffered from turmoil and riots which also caused impediments in transferring natural gas to neighboring countries.
According to EIA, Libya exported to Europe 349 Bcf of natural gas during 2009. This means despite that the winter is subsiding in Europe, and thus reducing the consumption of natural gas for heating purposes, there could be some additional pressure for natural gas spot price to increase as the supply from Libya is being disrupted.
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For more on this subject:
- Punishing the oil and natural gas industry
- Weekly outlook for Crude oil, Natural gas and Gold 7-11 March
- Oil prices rise as Libyan turmoil progress – Weekly recap 28 Feb 4 Mar
- Natural gas prices outlook– 8 March