Global Oil and Gas Prices Rise Amid Supply Concerns

The economic sanctions imposed by the US and its allies against Russia over the escalation of the Ukrainian conflict last year, as well as hostile actions by certain Western states such as the destruction of the Nord Stream pipelines, have effectively cut off many European countries from the supply of cheap Russian natural gas.

The prospects of a workers' strike at offshore platforms in Australia apparently led to an uptick in gas futures prices in Europe today.

Last week, trade unions at Woodside Energy Group's North West Shelf offshore gas platforms announced plans to launch a strike, which may start as soon as September 2. Some media outlets have warned that this development may result in the disruption of liquefied natural gas from Australia.

While it remains unclear whether the strike will end up taking place or if the bosses will come to some agreement with the union, September gas futures on the Amsterdam-based virtual gas trading market Title Transfer Facility (TTF) opened at $478.1 per 1,000 cubic meters, showing an increase of 16.5 percent.

Later in the day, the price dropped to $458.8, which still amounts to an 11.8 percent uptick.

One media outlet suggested that while Europe rarely gets fuel from Australia, this price increase was caused by traders being concerned about the possibility of growing competition for “alternative cargoes” if gas shipments to Asia are disrupted.

Meanwhile, oil prices have also been on the rise today in light of a decrease in exports from Saudi Arabia and Russia.

The prices of Brent and WTI crude rose by 61 and 63 cents, respectively: a barrel of Brent thus traded for $85.41 while a barrel of WTI went for $81.88.

This development came amid what appears to be a global decrease in supply and increase in demand, according to media reports.