The average price of natural gas imported into Germany in July was Eur15.77/MWh, according to export control agency BAFA, higher than the German NetConnect and GASPOOL and Dutch TTF spot and front-month contracts for July delivery.
BAFA July price up 9.8% year on year, down 1.9% month on month
July GASPOOL spot averaged Eur15.12/MWh, NCG Eur15.22/MWh
BAFA price below oil-indexed indicators
The BAFA price is the monthly average price of natural gas on the border, based on a formula including long-term contracts linked to oil, spot gas and other mechanisms.
The price of imported gas in July was 9.8% higher year on year and 1.9% lower than June, according to BAFA.
In comparison, the price of imported gas in June was up 11.4% year on year and 2% higher than May.
S&P Global Platts assessed average day-ahead prices at Germany's GASPOOL and NCG in July at Eur15.12/MWh and Eur15.22/MWh respectively, 65 euro cent/MWh and 55 euro cent/MWh below BAFA prices.
On the Dutch TTF hub, the contract in July was assessed at Eur15.10/MWh, 67 euro cent/MWh below the BAFA price.
Looking at the average month-ahead price in June for July delivery, the contracts at the three hubs were below the BAFA price, at Eur15.13/MWh for GASPOOL, Eur15.31/MWh for NCG, and Eur14.86/MWh for TTF.
In July, BAFA was below the Platts Northwest Europe Gas Contract Indicator for July, which was at Eur21.58/MWh. The indicator shows the theoretical value of an old-fashioned, oil-indexed long-term gas import contract.
The BAFA price was also below Platts Analytics' Eclipse Energy oil-indexed range of Eur19.66/MWh in July. Platts Analytics oil-indexed range also includes some spot indexation and price renegotiation.
German and Dutch spot July and front-month contracts for July delivery were also below Platts Analytics oil-indexed range.
The value of imported natural gas in January to July was Eur12.6 billion ($15.1 billion), down from Eur9.2 billion in July 2016, BAFA said.
