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An earlier version of this article incorrectly identified the previous high for U.S. natural-gas futures. They settled Tuesday at the highest since December 2008.
Natural-gas futures pulled back sharply Wednesday after Russian President Vladimir Putin said the country would boost supplies to Europe, which is bearing the brunt of a global energy crunch, and help stabilize the market.
Putin said gas sales to Europe could hit a record and that flows via Ukraine could exceed Gazprom’s contract with Kyiv, Reuters reported. Critics have accused Russia of holding back supplies.
The remarks sent natural-gas futures in Europe tumbling. After spiking nearly 40% earlier Wednesday, U.K. natural-gas futures
GWM00,
fell by more than 5%. U.S. natural-gas futures
NG00,
also retreated, down nearly 7%, after ending Tuesday at its highest since December 2008.
Limited supply from Russia has been cited as one factor that’s contributed to a sharp jump in natural-gas prices in Europe. U.K. natural-gas futures have jumped more than 400% in the year to date, according to FactSet.
“Low gas inventories across the globe as winter approaches have been pushing up demand in the physical market whilst supplies have been slower to respond,” said Warren Patterson, head of commodities strategy at ING, in a note.
“Unplanned outages at some French nuclear power plants due to a strike has also helped the rally in European power prices yesterday and supported gas demand in the spot market,” he said.
Oil futures were also in retreat, with West Texas Intermediate crude for November delivery
CL00,
CLX21,
down $1.16, or 1.5%, to $77.77 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange after ending Tuesday at the highest since 2014.
November Brent crude
BRN00,
BRNX21,
the global benchmark, was down $1.23, or 1.5%, at $81.33 a barrel on ICE Futures Europe, after ending at a nearly three-year high on Tuesday.
Crude was weaker after the American Petroleum Institute reported late Tuesday that U.S. crude supplies rose by 951,000 barrels for the week ended Oct. 1, according to sources. The API also reportedly showed inventory increases of 3.7 million barrels for gasoline and 345,000 barrels for distillates. Crude stocks at the Cushing, Okla., storage hub, meanwhile, edged up by about 2 million barrels for the week, sources said.
Inventory data from the Energy Information Administration will be released Wednesday morning. On average, the EIA is expected to show crude inventories up by 200,000 barrels, according to a survey of analysts conducted by S&P Global Platts. The survey also called for supply declines of 700,000 barrels for gasoline and 1.7 million-barrel decline for distillates.
