Prices post small gains after hitting 1-month lows

Dutch and British wholesale gas prices traded slightly up on Thursday morning after hitting a 1-month low the previous day, as full storages and rising liquefied natural gas (LNG) supply offset lower pipeline gas deliveries from Norway and Algeria.

The benchmark front-month contract at the Dutch TTF hub TRNLTTFMc1 was up by 0.60 euro at 36.25 euros per megawatt hour (MWh), or $11.78/mmBtu, by 0838 GMT, LSEG data showed.

On Wednesday, the contract fell to 35.65 euros/MWh, its lowest levels since Aug. 5.

In the British market the day-ahead contract TRGBNBPD1 gained 1.40 pence to 86.50 pence per therm.

“The weakness in the market comes despite ongoing scheduled maintenance in Norway and also a significant drop in North African pipeline flows into Italy in recent days,” analysts at ING said in a report.

However, this is offset by well-filled storages and stronger flows of LNG, they added.

Daily send-out of gas from Europe’s LNG terminals last stood at 3,028 gigawatt hours (GWh) per day, a level last seen in mid-July, according to data from Gas Infrastructure Europe (GIE).

Europe’s gas storage sites are 92.6% full, GIE data showed.

“The evolution of the Norwegian supply … no longer seems to be a cause for concern,” analysts at Engie Energyscan said in a daily report.

Nominations for Norwegian piped gas deliveries to continental Europe and Britain were seen at 189 million cubic metres (mcm) per day on Thursday, down from 195 mcm/day on Wednesday, data from system operator Gassco showed.

Friday to Sunday are expected to see the biggest curbs to production, based on latest maintenance schedules.

Russian gas producer Gazprom GAZP.MM said it would send 42.3 million cubic metres of gas to Europe via Ukraine on Thursday, the same volume as on Wednesday.

In the European carbon market, the benchmark contract CFI2Zc1 eased 0.11 euro to 66.89 euros a metric ton.
Source: Reuters (Reporting by Nora Buli; Editing by Susanna Twidale)