EUROPE GAS-Prices in Europe rise due to cold weather.
The price of Dutch and British gas contracts increased on Tuesday morning, as the cold weather across Europe boosted demand for gas heating and increased withdrawals.
LSEG data shows that the benchmark Dutch front-month contract was up 0.35 euros at 31.75 Euro per megawatt hour at TTF hub, or $10.78/mmBtu by 0901 GMT.
The British day-ahead price of gas rose 1.50 pence, to 83.75 p/therm. Meanwhile, the front-month contract increased by 1.02 pence.
LSEG data show that temperatures in Northwest Europe will drop by 1.2 degrees Celsius over the next week. This indicates a possible milder cold snap.
LSEG analyst Yuriy Onieshkiv said: "This confirms our modestly bullish forecast for today's contract. LNG and Norwegian supplies remain robust and largely steady."
On the day before, local distribution zone demand is expected to increase by 428 gigawatt-hours per day to 4,143GWh/day. According to LSEG, the demand for gas is expected to increase by 138 GWh/day over the weekend at 4,959GWh/day. For working days in next week, it is forecasted to rise by 342 GWh/day on average at 4,905GWh/day.
The wind speed is expected to drop further over the next few days. This will increase the gas demand for electricity by 106 GWh/day, to 3,298GWh/day in the coming day.
Gas Infrastructure Europe's data shows that EU gas storage facilities were 81.94% full last month, compared to 91% last year.
Temperature drops can lead to a further reduction in inventory.
The Ukrainian energy company DTEK imported its first cargo via Lithuania's Klaipeda Import Terminal in order to improve energy security for Ukraine as well as other Eastern European nations, the company said on Tuesday.
The benchmark contract on the European carbon markets was up 1,44 euros at 81.35 euro per metric ton. (Reporting and editing by Emelia Sithole Matarise; Marwa Rashad)
(source: Reuters)
