Benchmark natural gas prices on the European market returned above the €40 per megawatt-hour threshold on Wednesday amid a possible strike by workers at some liquefied natural gas (LNG) plants in Australia, Bloomberg reported, citing Agerpres. .

Next-month natural gas futures rose 30% to 40.35 euros per megawatt-hour at around 3:43 p.m. at the TTF gas hub in Amsterdam, where European benchmark prices are set, after posting gains of up to 40%. during the meeting.

Australian employees of Chevron Corp. and Woodside Energy Group Ltd. voted to start a strike that is likely to affect Australian liquefied gas supplies, putting pressure on the global LNG market.

It is currently unclear when exactly the strike will begin, if it reaches this form of protest.

Nick Campbell, director of consultancy Inspired Plc., says Asian buyers are likely to bid higher to secure LNG imports and replace potentially interrupted supplies to Australia, a situation that will also affect Europe.

Europe switched to liquefied gas after Russian exports fell

“Liquefied gases have become an important source of supply in the European gas mix, and so any signal that these supplies are at risk sends prices higher,” says Nick Campbell.

There are other factors that have recently raised the price of gas. Among them is a decrease in the import of liquefied gas to Europe over the last month and an increase in supplies from Europe to Ukraine, which has free storage facilities.

Potential maintenance delays at gas facilities in Norway, Europe’s largest gas supplier, also pose a risk.

But at the moment, these factors are partially counteracted by the decrease in demand for gas, as well as the fact that the degree of filling of fields in Europe is at an unusually high level for this time of year.

However, this did not prevent gas prices to rise again in early August on European markets.