Less Ads, More Data, More Tools Register for FREE

Prices mixed on diverging weather, supply picture

Mon, 21st Nov 2022 10:00

Nov 21 (Reuters) - British prompt gas prices fell on Monday morning amid increased supply from Norway and downward demand revisions, but further out contracts rose both in Britain and the continent.

The British within-day contract fell by 24.03 pence to 85 pence per therm by 0946 GMT, with the day-ahead contract down by 9 pence at 95 p/therm, according to Refinitiv Eikon data.

The December contract was up 15.50 pence up at 282 p/therm.

The UK system was 13.7 million cubic metres (mcm) long on Monday morning, National Grid data showed.

Norwegian piped gas flows to Britain were strongly up on Monday, following the restart of the Aasgard B platform.

Local distribution zone gas demand in Britain, which is primarily used for heating, is expected at 177 mcm/day for Tuesday, down 9 mcm from a previous forecast, Refinitiv Eikon data showed.

Temperatures are currently below normal in both Britain and north-western Europe, but set to return around or above normal levels from Wednesday, Refinitiv data showed.

Longer-date forecasts indicated a change to generally more high pressure from next week onwards, Refinitiv meteorologist Georg Mueller said.

"And thus we could be in for a rather cool early December," he added.

The Dutch day-ahead contract rose by 10.13 euros to 115.13 euros per megawatt hour (MWh), while the benchmark front-month contract traded up 11.20 euros at 120 euros/MWh, according to Refinitiv Eikon data.

The Dutch TTF front month remains volatile and pricing has become trickier without a clear anchor, one trader said.

Important factors to watch will be the availability of liquefied natural gas (LNG) and coal prices, which have risen lately, analysts at Engie EnergyScan said.

Late on Friday, U.S. LNG company Freeport LNG said it was targeting a mid-December restart for its Texas export plant, which has been shut for six months after a fire, pending regulatory approval.

Europe's gas stocks were 95.17% full according to latest data from Gas Infrastructure Europe, down from a peak of 95.61% on Nov. 13.

In the European carbon market, the benchmark contract was up 1.44 euros at 73.91 euros a tonne.

Login to your account

Don't have an account? Click here to register.

Quickpicks are a member only feature

Login to your account

Don't have an account? Click here to register.