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UK GAS-Prices mixed as gas-for-power demand is set to rise

British wholesale gas prices were mixed on Friday as oversupply depressed within-day prices but an a drop in wind power boosted demand for Monday.

* Day-ahead gas was up 0.7 pence at 28.00 pence per therm by 0750 GMT.

* Within-day gas fell 1.0 pence to 26.50 pence per therm.

* The gas system was oversupplied by 10 million cubic metres (mcm), with demand forecast at 127.0 mcm and supply seen at 137.6 mcm.

* Peak wind generation will be high on Friday at over 10 gigawatts (GW) compared to a total metred capacity of 12 GW and double the level on Thursday.

* Strong winds weigh on gas for power demand but such high levels of generation are expected to drop off by Monday.

* Forecasts for gas for power for then have been increased by 28 mcm to 53 mcm, boosting some day-ahead contract buying, one trader said.

* Supplies of gas were stable, with a small dip in flows from the UK Continental Shelf offsetting an increase of flows along the Langeled pipeline from Norway.

* Maintenance at Norway’s large Troll field came to an end on Friday although a complete shutdown is expected later in the month for more work.

* “However, the current total Norwegian production levels indicate that Troll is being used flexibly with approximately 50 to 60 mcm a day lower gas output compared to available production capacity,” Refinitiv gas analysts said in a daily note.

* This indicates Norway is adjusting production according to price dynamics and so planned outages may have unpredictable impacts on flows.

* The month-ahead contract edged up 0.12 pence to 34 pence per therm.

* The Dutch month-ahead contract was down 0.12 euro at 12.18 euros per megawatt hour while the day-ahead contract was yet to trade.

* The benchmark EU carbon price traded flat at 28.53 euros a tonne.
Source: Reuters (Reporting by Sabina Zawadzki; editing by David Evans)

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