On Tuesday, new data from the London Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) showed that on Tuesday, natural gas futures in the European Union increased substantially, by as much as 18%.

Gas futures for July delivery at the Dutch TTF hub saw prices rise to an intra-day high of almost €47.6 ($52.1) per megawatt-hour in household terms, or $539.7 per thousand cubic meters.

According to analysts, the increase is due to a projected increase in temperatures which leads to increased demand for cooling. On top of that, labor strikes in Australia, expected to hit three major gas facilities operated by Chevron and Woodside Energy, are threatening to interrupt supplies from that nation. Strikes there could impact up to 10% of global exports of liquified natural gas (LNG).

Although Australian shipments rarely are delivered to the EU, the bloc would see increased competition on the market with Asian buyers looking to acquire replacement cargoes.

Leo Kabouche, an LNG analyst at Energy Aspects in London said in an interview with Bloomberg, “Preliminary talks between the unions and the LNG projects’ shareholders did not result in any breakthroughs. A full resolution is unlikely to be reached without the full support of the Offshore Alliance, and recent social media posts from the union indicate that we are still some way away from this.”

Although the EU has refilled storage capacity to well above its normal seasonal levels, the bloc remains at risk as it heads into summer maintenance schedules for major producers, such as Norway, which will take production from such suppliers offline.

Since August of 2022, gas prices in the EU have been steadily declining as supplies of the super-chilled fuel began to stabilize, and storage facilities reached full capacity. Adding to the tailwinds was an unusually warm winter which reduced the bloc’s demand and consumption.

This year, storage facilities stand at 72.8% full, as of June 13th.