Natural gas prices showed mixed movements during the week of 18–22 May 2026, with Northeast Asian LNG prices supported by supply concerns and geopolitical tensions, while European and U.S. gas prices eased by the end of the week.
The Northeast Asian assessed spot LNG price JKM (July delivery) for last week (18 – 22 May) rose to high-USD 18s/MBtu on 22 May from mid-USD 18s/MBtu the previous weekend (15 May, June delivery). In the first half of the week, JKM rose to high-USD 19s/MBtu on 20 May on the back of heightened geopolitical tensions in the Middle East, as well as supply concerns in the Asia-Pacific region, including possible protected industrial action at Australia’s Ichthys LNG and potential supply disruptions at Malaysia’s MLNG and the U.S. Freeport LNG.
Thereafter, overall energy prices declined on expectations of progress in U.S.-Iran peace negotiations, causing JKM to fall back to high-USD 18s/MBtu on 21 May. Although JKM declined slightly again on 22 May due to expectations for the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, buying interest from Japanese players and supply disruption concerns persisted, keeping prices in the high-USD 18s/MBtu range. METI announced on 20 May that Japan’s LNG inventories for power generation as of 17 May stood at 2.04 million tonnes, down 0.08 million tonnes from the previous week.
The European gas price TTF (June delivery) for last week (18 – 22 May) fell to USD 16.5/MBtu on 22 May from USD 17.1/MBtu the previous weekend (15 May). In the first half of the week, TTF continued to rise on the back of reduced supply caused by an unplanned outage at Norway’s Asgard gas field and soaring LNG prices in the Asian market, reaching USD 17.7/MBtu on 19 May.
Thereafter, TTF turned downward on expectations of looser future supply-demand balances due to forecasts of warmer temperatures and increased renewable energy generation in Europe, falling to USD 16.5/MBtu on 22 May. According to AGSI+, the EU-wide underground gas storage was 37.5% on 22 May, up from 36.1% the previous weekend, down 17.6% from the same period last year, and down 27.0% over the five-year average.
The U.S. gas price HH (June delivery) for last week (18 – 22 May) fell to USD 2.9/MBtu on 22 May from USD 3.0/MBtu the previous weekend (15 May). HH rose to USD 3.1/MBtu on 19 May due to increased gas demand for power generation associated with rising temperatures and strong LNG feedgas demand. Thereafter, HH fell back to the low-USD 3s/MBtu on 20 May on weak demand expectations.
It continued to decline afterward as the EIA storage report showed a larger-than-expected increase in inventories, reaching USD 2.9/MBtu on 22 May. The EIA Weekly Natural Gas Storage Report released on 21 May showed U.S. natural gas inventories as of 15 May at 2,391 Bcf, up 101 Bcf from the previous week, up 1.4% from the same period last year, and 6.6% above the five-year average.
Source: JOGMEC
Updated: 25 May 2026
