EUROPE GAS-European Gas Prices Firm as Weather and LNG Strikes Offset Rising Norwegian Supply
The Dutch and British gas price rose slightly on Friday, but they remain within the recent range. This is because the end of maintenance season in Norway has increased supply while strikes in France have curtailed LNG deliveries.
LSEG data shows that the benchmark Dutch front-month contract was 32.70 euros per Megawatt Hour (MWh) or $11.20/mmBtu at 0844 GMT. This is an increase of 0.30 euros.
The Dutch day-ahead contracts was up by 0.23 euros to 32.53 Euros/MWh.
The British gas front-month contract increased by 0.10 pence, to 81.67 p/therm. Meanwhile, the day-ahead price rose by 0.95 p/therm.
LSEG analysts in a note published weekly said that Norwegian flows to continental Europe will increase by 640 gigawatt-hours (GWh) a day, week over week. This is due to the return of more installations from maintenance.
They added that this was "badly necessary" in order to avoid having to dig too deeply into the storage supplies so early in the season.
LSEG stated that gas supplies in Europe will likely drop next week due to cold weather and reduced wind power generation, which increase gas demand, while low LNG deliveries from French terminals reduce the supply.
Elengy, the French LNG terminal operator, has issued force majeure notifications for its Montoir and Fos Tonkin sites. No ships are expected to arrive before October 2.
Energy Aspects analysts stated in a note published weekly that Europe is on track to meet its storage needs by the end of October.
They added, "But the lower fill implies a significant price risk this winter if there is cold weather."
Gas Infrastructure Europe's data shows that EU gas storage facilities were 82% full on September 23 compared to 93.8% last year.
The benchmark contract on the European carbon markets was down by 0.22 euros, at 75.54 euro per metric ton. Reporting by Nora Buli, Editing by David Goodman
(source: Reuters)
