EUROPE GAS - European prices trade in narrow range due to strong supply and demand pickup
Dutch and British gas prices rose on Wednesday morning, but remained confined to a small range. This was due to the strong supply of liquefied?gases (LNG), which offset an increase in demand due to a cooler weather forecast.
LSEG data shows that the benchmark Dutch front-month contract was 27.06 euros per Megawatt Hour (MWh) or $9.24/mmBtu at 0854 GMT. This is a decrease of 0.43 euros.
The Dutch day-ahead contract eased by 0.52 euros, to 26.83 Euro/MWh.
The British gas front-month price was down 0.04 pence to 71.60 pennies.
Temperatures are expected to be higher in the remaining 15 days of the window, but have been lowered for the 13-15 December period. The LSEG data shows that the local distribution zone demand, which is the domestic gas demand to heat homes, will increase by 306 gigawatt hours per day in the next day.
The gas demand for electricity generation also increased by 227 GWh/d compared to the previous day, at 2896 GWh/d. This is due to the falling wind power outputs in Germany and the Netherlands.
Saku Jussila, LSEG analyst, stated that LNG export is?slightly stronger today than yesterday.
We expect Wednesday to be a?sideways day, with a higher demand expected on Thursday. Jussila stated that the TTF overall?sentiment is still bearish.
Gas Infrastructure Europe's data shows that EU gas storage sites were at last 71.83% filled, which is 12.4% less than the level a year earlier.
The benchmark carbon contract in Europe was down by 0.53 euros at 82.32 euro per metric ton. (Reporting and editing by Janane Vekatraman; Marwa Rashad)
(source: Reuters)
