UK GAS-Prices fall on more supply, milder weather

March 19 (Reuters) - British wholesale gas prices fell on
Friday morning amid rising supply, milder weather and weaker
emissions prices.

* The weekend contract was 1.20 pence lower at
43.30
pence per therm by 0915 GMT.

* A long system, a drop in gas-for-power demand to 69
million
cubic metres (mcm) on Monday from 78 mcm/day today and rising
Norwegian flows, created a bearish picture, analysts at
Refinitiv said.

* The British gas system was over-supplied by around 4 mcm,
with
demand forecast at 276 mcm and flows at 280 mcm/day, National
Grid data showed.

* Peak wind generation is forecast at 3.8 gigawatts (GW) on
Friday
and 5.8 GW the next day, National Grid data showed.

* The April contract was down by 0.80 pence at
43.30
p/therm.

* Weaker EU carbon prices and an outlook for milder weather
also
weighed on gas, a trader said.

* The weather would be cold over the weekend but milder next
week,
Refinitiv meteorologist Georg Mueller said.

* The benchmark EU carbon price traded at 42.26
euros a
tonne, down 0.14 euros, and off a fresh all-time high of 43.77
euros per tonne hit on Thursday.

* The Dutch April price at the TTF hub edged up
0.08
euro to 17.48 euros per megawatt hour.

* Higher gas demand amid the current cold snap and
coal-to-gas
switching in the power sector due to higher emissions price
supported the TTF summer market, analysts at consultancy Energy
Aspects said.

* This further reduced gas inventories leaving even more
space for
summer injections, which would rely on strong flows of liquefied
natural gas (LNG), they added.

* Dutch summer 2021 gas was up 0.11 euros at
17.53
euros per megawatt hour.

* Energy Aspects forecasts Europe's total LNG imports,
excluding
Turkey, to reach a record of 64–65 billion cubic metres this
summer.
(Reporting by Nora Buli in Oslo; editing by Nina Chestney)

National Grid