UK GAS-Prompt prices dip as warmer temperatures dent demand

LONDON, March 9 (Reuters) - Prompt British wholesale gas
prices fell on Tuesday morning as forecasts for warmer
temperatures curb demand.

* The within-day contract was down 0.95 pence
at
44.00 p/therm by 1017 GMT.

* The day-ahead contract was down 0.67p at 43.83
p/therm.

* Traders said with the market almost balanced on Tuesday
attention had turned to forecasts for warmer temperatures and
stronger output from the country’s wind farms.

* Analysts at Refinitiv forecast local distribution zone
(LDZ)
demand, which is primarily used for heating, at 209 million
cubic metres (mcm) for Tuesday, down 13 mcm on the previous
forecast.

* Peak wind power generation is forecast at 12.8 gigawatts
(GW) on
Tuesday, rising to almost 15 GW on Wednesday, Elexon data
showed.

* "UK gas demand is relatively weak on milder and warmer
weather,"
analysts at Refinitiv said in a daily research note.

* Britain’s gas system was almost balanced with demand
forecast at
283.8 mcm and flows at 286 mcm/day, National Grid data showed.

* Further out on the curve prices edged higher, lifted by
gains in
the oil market, traders said.

* Crude hit its highest level since the start of the
pandemic on
Monday after Yemen's Houthi forces fired drones and missiles at
Saudi oil sites on Sunday.

* The April gas contract was up 1.22 p at 41.60
p/therm.

* The day-ahead gas price at the Dutch TTF hub
was up
0.1 euro at 16.95 per megawatt hour.

* The benchmark Dec-21 EU carbon contract was up
0.62
euro at 39.75 euros per tonne.
(Reporting by Susanna Twidale, editing by Louise Heavens)

National Grid