LONDON, Dec 8 (Reuters) - European and British wholesale gas
prices rose on Wednesday morning on concerns over supply with
low stock levels and as outages in Norway curbed exports.
* The British gas contract for immediate delivery
jumped 37.00 pence to 2.62 pounds per therm by 1058 GMT, with
the day ahead contract rising 18.70 pence to 2.595
pounds per therm.
* The benchmark Dutch front-month contract was
up
7.47 euros at 102.47 euros/MWh.
* Traders said uncertainty over Russian supply to Europe
with
continued weak flows is a major concern, while outages in Norway
and expectations of colder weather are all driving prices
higher.
* Total Norwegian export nominations were 23 million cubic
meters/day (mcm/d) down at 325mcm/d compared to the previous
day, Refinitiv Eikon data showed, due to unplanned outage at the
Troll gas field.
* " A Current large production outage at Troll field is
providing
a clear bullish signal on the supply side and despite other
supply flows remaining roughly sideways we expect prompt prices
to rise again on the tighter market today," Refinitiv analysts
said.
* A European trader said the market is also concerned over
Gazprom's ability to increase flows to Northwest Europe, given
the low stock in Europe.
* "Combine that with delays at EDF's nuclear plants and the
4
gigawatt (GW) nuke plants capacity Germany is mothballing this
month and you have a recipe for a perfect storm," he added.
* Lower nuclear power plant output can often lead to higher
demand
for gas from gas-fired power plants as they are ramped up to
make up for the lost capacity.
* Russian natural gas deliveries to Germany through the
Yamal-Europe pipeline have been largely stable in the early
hours of Wednesday, data from German network operator Gascade
showed.
* The European benchmark December 2021 EUA contract
was
up 3.79 euros at 88.79 euros a tonne having earlier touched a
record high of 89.37 euros/tonne.
(Reporting by Marwa Rashad; Editing by Susanna Twidale)
National Grid (NG.)
