European Gas Holds Gains as Nord Stream Works Put Market on Edge

European natural gas prices gained for a second day as traders remain on edge over what to expect when Russia’s Nord Stream pipeline completes maintenance.

The pipeline is shut for planned works for ten days, but Germany has voiced concerns that Russia may not fully return the link into service afterwards. Deliveries from Gazprom (MCX:GAZP) PJSC (OTC:OGZPY) have been curbed for weeks, both via Nord Stream and Ukraine.

“The market now has all eyes on next week, where the maintenance is set to end, but where Europe and especially Germany fears that Russia will not restart flows on the pipeline,” Energi Danmark said in a note.

Elsewhere, gas supplies from Norway are expected to start recovering after hitting the lowest level in more than a month earlier this week amid unplanned outages.

Dutch front-month gas, the European benchmark, traded 0.8% higher at 174 euros per megawatt-hour by 8:26 a.m. in Amsterdam. The contract rose 4.9% on Tuesday and has more than doubled in value over the past month.