Natural gas prices in Europe and Asia are moving higher as the market has continued to tighten in a trend that’s setting the stage for a  bullish summer for liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports. 

Both the prompt Title Transfer Facility (TTF) and National Balancing Point contracts jumped above $7/MMBtu last week, while Japan-Korea Marker (JKM) futures shot above $8. The strength has spilled into this week as buying remains strong in both regions. All three benchmarks closed higher on Monday and Tuesday.  

“The writing is on the wall, the global gas market is incredibly tight right now, and we don’t see this reversing course anytime soon,” said analysts at Tudor, Pickering, Holt & Co (TPH). 

In Europe, strong demand in the residential and power generation sectors last...