LONDON, Sept 17 (Reuters) - British and European gas prices
rose on Friday morning with lower imports from Norway and
forecasts for cooler temperatures adding to bullish sentiment
about low stock levels.
* The British within-day < TRGBNBPD1> gas contract was up
14.50
pence at 166.00 p/therm by 0850 GMT.
* The British weekend contract was up 4.45 p at
165.00
p/therm.
* Forecasts for cooler weather, after a mild September so
far, led
to an increase in expectations of demand for gas for heating.
* Analysts at Refinitiv forecast British local distribution
zone
demand at 75 million cubic metres (mcm) for Monday, up 7 mcm
from the previous forecast.
* “The temperature in both the UK and north-west Europe is
expected to dip sharply this week,” analysts at Refinitiv said
in a daily research note.
* Imports to Britain via the Langeled pipeline were forecast
at 41
mcm, down 28 mcm on the previous forecasts.
* Traders said attention has also turned to whether or not
Gazprom
will take up additional gas transit capacity in auction's on
Monday.
* If it does not book capacity, it signals less gas coming
to
Europe which would be bullish for the market, traders said.
* The day-ahead gas price at the Dutch TTF hub
was up
5.65 euros at 66.50 euros per megawatt hour.
* Barclays analysts said low storage levels in Europe, as
well as
continued strong demand for LNG in Asia, suggests higher gas
prices are here to stay over the winter months.
* "Indigenous production in Europe is down 15% year-to-date,
reflecting maintenance, natural decline and production cuts,"
the analysts said in a research note.
* "Nord Stream 2 remains a point of uncertainty but also, in
isolation, is unlikely to make enough of a difference to gas
balances," they added.
* The benchmark Dec-21 EU carbon contract was up
0.40
euro at 59.71 euros per tonne.
* The benchmark Dec-21 British carbon contract was
0.22
pounds higher at 54.25 pounds per tonne.
(Reporting By Susanna Twidale; editing by Nina Chestney)