EUROPE GAS-Prices fall as Norwegian flows jump, demand set to drop

Dec 9 (Reuters) - European and British wholesale gas prices
fell on Thursday following a sharp rise in flows from Norway
after the end of an outage at the Troll field and an expected
drop in demand amid milder weather.

* The British gas contract for immediate delivery
was
down 2.50 pence at 2.51 pounds per therm by 0941 GMT, with the
day ahead contract falling 8.50 pence to 2.505
pounds per therm.

* The benchmark Dutch front-month contract was
down
5.75 euros at 97.10 euros/MWh.

* Prices are falling in line with an unplanned outage at
Norway's
Troll field winding down, market observers said.

* Troll's daily capacity was still down by 9 million cubic
metres
(mcm) on Thursday morning, data by Norwegian gas system operator
Gassco showed.

* On Wednesday, Troll's capacity was cut by as much as 53
mcm,
further curbing supply in a market already worried about a lack
of gas for the winter which has sent prices soaring.

* European gas stocks are dwindling at a steady pace and
showed a
16 billion cubic metres deficit compared with the five-year
average level for early December, analysts at Engie EnergScan
said in a report.

* "Every supply shock or concern over future supply flows
(unplanned outages, geopolitical tensions between US and Russia)
just fuels the bullish sentiment at this point in the absence of
a prolonged mild weather period so far this winter," they said.

* Russian natural gas deliveries to Germany through the
Yamal-Europe pipeline remained stable in line with previous
days, data from German network operator Gascade
showed.

* Meanwhile, rising temperatures from the weekend will see a
substantial week-on-week drop in residential consumption
Refinitiv analysts said in a morning note.

* Still, a return to below-normal temperatures later in
December
and slowing arrivals of liquefied natural gas (LNG) to Europe
presented further risks, mitigating the downside, they added.

* The European benchmark December 2021 EUA contract
fell
by 3.44 euros to 85.44 euros a tonne, after hitting a fresh
all-time high of 90.20 euros/tonne on Wednesday.
(Reporting by Nora Buli in Oslo. Editing by Jane Merriman)

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