Asian and European natural gas prices on Tuesday soared to multi-month highs, continuing a run of strength as demand remained unseasonably high.

Tuesday’s gains came after the prompt Title Transfer Facility benchmark finished Monday at $8.973/MMBtu and the prompt National Balancing Point broke through the $9.00 barrier to hit $9.05 after a stretch of continued strength last week. Prices were moving higher along the forward curve too.

Weaker pipeline imports from Russia and Norway, along with stubborn cold across Europe and record high carbon prices, were further incentivizing natural gas for power generation and pushing up prices.

“The single most important driver of higher European gas and power prices in 2021 is rising carbon prices,” said UK consultancy Timera...