EUROPE GAS-Prices Firm on Technical Support, Lower Wind
Dutch and British wholesale prices of gas rose on Monday morning due to technical trading and lower renewable energy output.
LSEG data revealed that the benchmark Dutch front-month contracts - now for October – at the TTF hub were up 0.34 Euros at 32.00 Euros per megawatt-hour (MWh) or $11.00/mmBtu by 0842 GMT.
The contract for November increased by 0.66 euros to 33.08 euro/MWh.
The British gas front-month price rose 0.37 pence, to 78.50 p/therm. The November contract increased by 1.35 p/therm.
Karsten Sander-Nielsen, Senior Market Analyst at Mind Energy, said that the downside is limited due to technical resistance surrounding current prices and a slightly tighter supply and demand.
Wayne Bryan, LSEG’s director of gas research said that the total gas demand for north-west Europe rose to more than 100 gigawatts per day on Tuesday, due to a softer renewable energy production and a slight decrease in temperatures.
Georg Mueller, LSEG's meteorologist, said that continental Europe is unlikely to experience major cooler-than-normal periods in the next few weeks.
Elexon data shows that Britain's peak wind generation is expected to be 17.5 gigawatts on Monday, before falling to 13 GW by Tuesday.
In a recent note, Auxilione stated that "As we approach the last month of summer deliveries, winter delivery contracts will become the focus for markets."
Gas Infrastructure Europe's data shows that EU gas storage facilities were last 77.3% filled, compared to around 92% last year at the same point and 80% by 2022.
Analysts at Engie EnergyScan say that the market is waiting to see how the U.S. reacts to the delivery of LNG cargoes from the Arctic LNG 2 plant last week. If the U.S. does not object, the plant could continue delivering LNG, they said.
The benchmark contract on the European carbon markets was up 0.76 euros at 73.75 euro per metric ton. Nora Buli, reporting from Oslo; Nina Chestney, editing)
(source: Reuters)
