Natural gas and LNG infrastructure under attack
September 11, 2026
Natural gas prices strengthened across the major benchmarks last week. JKM and TTF rose amid tighter LNG supply, winter competition and geopolitical risks, while Henry Hub moved higher on stronger LNG feedgas and cooling demand.
The Northeast Asian assessed spot LNG price JKM for last week (31 August – 4 September, October delivery) rose to mid-USD 25s/MBtu on 4 September from mid-USD 24s/MBtu the previous weekend (28 August).
In the first half of the week, JKM continued to rise due to supply concerns arising from the loss of arbitrage opportunities for U.S. LNG cargoes to Asia, amid intensifying competition between Europe and Asia for LNG cargoes ahead of winter demand.
On 2 September, JKM rose to high-USD 25s/MBtu, the highest level since the first quarter of 2023.
Thereafter, prices turned downward as high prices dampened buying interest in Northeast Asia, although geopolitical risk premiums surrounding the Middle East continued to provide support, leaving JKM at mid-USD 25s/MBtu on 4 September.
METI announced on 2 September that Japan’s LNG inventories for power generation as of 30 August stood at 2.42 million tonnes, up 0.05 million tonnes from the previous week.
The European gas price TTF (October delivery) for last week (31 August – 4 September) rose to USD 24.5/MBtu on 4 September from USD 22.9/MBtu the previous weekend (28 August).
TTF continued to rise at the beginning of the week due to reduced LNG supply and lower wind power generation.
On 2 September, prices rose to USD 25.0/MBtu due to unplanned maintenance at Norway’s Kollsnes gas processing facility and Troll gas field, as well as forecasts of higher temperatures in the short term.
TTF then fell to USD 24.4/MBtu on 3 September on expectations of easing geopolitical risks in the Middle East, but rose again to USD 24.5/MBtu on 4 September due to reduced gas supplies from Norway and a slowdown in the pace of gas storage injections in Europe.
According to AGSI+, EU-wide underground gas storage was 66.4% on 4 September, up from 64.4% the previous weekend, down 16.2% from the same period last year, and down 20.2% from the five-year average.
The U.S. gas price HH (October delivery) for last week (31 August – 4 September) rose to around USD 3.0/MBtu on 4 September from USD 2.9/MBtu the previous weekend (28 August).
At the beginning of the week, HH rose due to increased LNG feedgas demand following the completion of maintenance at Freeport LNG and expectations of higher gas demand for power generation amid rising temperatures.
Thereafter, cooling demand driven by high temperatures and strong LNG export demand continued to support prices, pushing HH to the high-USD 2s/MBtu on 2 September.
Although prices temporarily declined on 3 September, HH rose again to around USD 3.0/MBtu on 4 September on expectations of higher cooling demand due to forecasts of rising temperatures.
The EIA Weekly Natural Gas Storage Report released on 3 September showed U.S. natural gas inventories as of 28 August at 3,214 Bcf, up 30 Bcf from the previous week, down 1.5% from the same period last year, and 5.2% above the five-year average.
Source: JOGMEC
Updated: 7 September 2026
