While most people were relaxing in the break between Christmas and the New Year, energy market traders found themselves working overtime, glued to their screens.
At the start of the week natural gas futures experienced the largest spike since the beginning of the Ukraine war peaking at 18pc higher than the previous day before falling slightly.
Some of this was because of cold weather in the United States, with a cold snap expected in the coming weeks. But some is due to the expiration of a deal between the European Union, Ukraine and Russia to maintain Russian gas flows via Ukrainian pipelines so that Europe could have its energy needs met.
The deal expired this week, which means that Europe will have to further increase its liquefied natural gas (LNG) imports from the United States. This means there will be more pressure on the American market for natural gas from abroad amidst the impending cold snap.
Geopolitical pressure on global energy markets has been ratcheting up these past few weeks, as the outgoing Biden administration pulls the sanctions levers that they were previously reluctant to pull for fear they might increase inflation. The Biden administration claims that this is to put increased pressure on Russia.
But many in the incoming Trump team, which is opposed to the sanctions, think this is to make negotiations more difficult.
While most people were relaxing in the break between Christmas and the New Year, energy market traders found themselves working overtime, glued to their screens.
At the start of the week natural gas futures experienced the largest spike since the beginning of the Ukraine war peaking at 18pc higher than the previous day before falling slightly.
Some of this was because of cold weather in the United States, with a cold snap expected in the coming weeks. But some is due to the expiration of a deal between the European Union, Ukraine and Russia to maintain Russian gas flows via Ukrainian pipelines so that Europe could have its energy needs met.
The deal expired this week, which means that Europe will have to further increase its liquefied natural gas (LNG) imports from the United States. This means there will be more pressure on the American market for natural gas from abroad amidst the impending cold snap.
Geopolitical pressure on global energy markets has been ratcheting up these past few weeks, as the outgoing Biden administration pulls the sanctions levers that they were previously reluctant to pull for fear they might increase inflation. The Biden administration claims that this is to put increased pressure on Russia.
But many in the incoming Trump team, which is opposed to the sanctions, think this is to make negotiations more difficult.