(Yakov Grabar) Although Nord Stream maintenance ended, the injection rates in CEE are still lower than those of the period before the works had begun. Moreover, UGS stocks in Austria that provides the largest share of regional storage capacities have not significantly risen but rather have begun to decrease in early August.
Seasonably warm temperatures in Northwestern and Central Europe have made adjustments to trading tactics. It is now economically attractive for many players to withdraw gas from the storages and not to accumulate more spot volumes.
DA prices at Austrian VTP have exceeded the level at which MA deliveries are traded from the end of July, making it profitable to promote sales of near-curve gas. Against this backdrop, injections can wait until September.
August may take the lead among other months of 2020 in terms of alleviating the imbalance in European gas market. However, the prices are at risk of losing support because of changing nature of weather and, given the need to intensify injections in the lead-up to winter season, late August and September can turn out to be a super volatile period.
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