LONDON, Jan 21 (Reuters) - British and Dutch gas prices were
mixed on Friday morning with some contracts down on higher
Norwegian exports and rising temperatures but some up amid
concerns about Russia and Ukraine tensions.
The British contract for day-ahead delivery
inched down by 2.00 to 1.78 pounds per therm by 0919 GMT, while
the Dutch February price at the TTF hub was down by
2.20 euros at 74.20 euros per megawatt hour (MWh).
However, the UK weekend price was 3.50 pence
higher at 1.78 p/therm and the Dutch equivalent was
up 2.60 euros at 74.60 euros/MWh.
The Dutch price for March was 1.95 euro higher
at 74.30 euros/MWh.
Trader said higher Norwegian flows and milder temperatures
were bearish. Total Norwegian exports are 10 million cubic
metres (mcm) a day higher from the previous day after recovering
from unplanned outages.
Gas supplies via the Yamal-Europe pipeline, which sends
Russian gas west into Europe, have declined from Germany to
Poland, running in a reverse mode eastward for a month, data
from German network operator Gascade showed on Friday.
The reverse flows seen on Friday morning were above 11.7
million kWh/h, down from 13.1 million kWh/h for the past 24
hours.
For the UK, temperatures are expected to turn warmer over
the next couple of days to above the seasonal norm from the
middle of next week, Refinitiv gas analysts said.
However, after a week of declining prices, there are still
concerns about Russian supply and escalating tensions on the
Russia/Ukraine border.
"It looks like the curve sentiment is bullish on war risk
while at the front it's mostly bear," a gas trader said.
The top diplomats of Russia and the United States were to
meet in Switzerland on Friday to discuss soaring tensions over
Ukraine after a flurry of meetings between officials on both
sides in the last week produced no breakthroughs.
"Market participants do not forget that in a context of
relatively weak stock levels and ongoing weak Russian supply,
the European gas balance is not that comfortable," said analysts
at Engie Energyscan.
In the European carbon market, the benchmark December 2022
contract was down 1.42 euros at 84.17 euros/tonne.
(Reporting by Nina Chestney; additional reporting by Nora Buli)