Prices remain near 2-year lows on strong inventories

LONDON, May 18 (Reuters) - British and Dutch wholesale gas prices were down on Thursday morning and remained near 2-year lows on tepid demand due to strong flows of liquefied natural gas (LNG) and solid inventories.

The Dutch front-month contract was 1.40 euros lower at 31.10 euros ($35.61) per megawatt hour (MWh) by 0854 GMT, its lowest level since June 2021. The day-ahead contract was 0.55 euros lower at 30.75 euros/MWh, Refinitiv Eikon data showed.

"In the next few days, the market is likely to get closer to testing the next 30 euros/MWh support level, barring any unplanned and extended outages in Norway that are likely to tighten flows to Northwest Europe," Refinitiv analyst Yuriy Onyshkiv said.

The British front-month gas price was down by 1.50 pence down at 71.50 pence per therm, its lowest level since June 2021, while the day-ahead contract was 1.75 pence down at 71.00 pence per therm, Refinitiv Eikon data showed.

Temperature is expected to remain above normal in Britain and Northwest Europe over the next couple of weeks, Onyshkiv said, curbing gas demand for heating.

Europe's gas storage sites are 64.3% full, latest data from Gas Infrastructure Europe showed.

In Britain, the gas system was oversupplied by 16.1 million cubic meters (mcm), National Grid data showed.

Peak wind power generation in Britain is forecast at 4.4 gigawatts (GW) for Thursday and at 2.7 GW on Friday, out of a total metered capacity of 22 GW, Elexon data showed.

In the European carbon market, the benchmark contract was up 0.49 euro to 88.64 euros a tonne.

(Reporting by Marwa Rashad; Editing by Susanna Twidale)