Prices of EUROPE GAS only marginally increase as demand is softened by the Norwegian gas outage
The Dutch and British wholesale prices of gas were slightly higher on Thursday. They traded in a narrow band, as a soft demand reduced the impact of a planned outage at Norway’s Nyhamna Gas Processing Plant.
The benchmark Dutch front month contract at the TTF Hub was up 0.53 euros at 35.20 Euros per Megawatt Hour (MWh), which is $11.96/mmBtu by 0827 GMT. Meanwhile, the September contract had risen 0.25 euros to 35.50 Euros/MWh according to LSEG.
The August contract in the British market was up 1.51 pence, at 84.60 cents per therm.
Gassco, the Norwegian gas system operator, revised details about an unplanned outage that occurred at the Kollsnes Gas Processing Plant, one of Norway’s largest energy export facilities. It said the plant would reduce its output by more than the previous estimate of 41.5 million cubic metres per day.
The unplanned outage continues at the Nyhamna Gas Processing Plant, reducing output by 50 mcm/d. Both outages are expected to continue until Friday.
Saku Jussila, LSEG analyst, said: "This hasn't been realized yet in flows but there is a danger of further drops and these outages being extended beyond today."
LSEG data shows that residential demand will rise on Friday by 76 gigawatt hours per day, to 1873 GWh/d. However, it is forecast to be flat over the weekend and to fall next week because of a strong wind forecast.
Analysts from Engie's EnergyScan say that European net gas storage injections fell sharply on Tuesday, and are expected to fall again, but more moderately, on Thursday.
Analyst estimates show that gas storage inventories have reached a level of 63.49%, which is more than 20% lower than the levels expected in 2024.
Four EU diplomats said that the European Union had failed to approve new sanctions against Russia for a second time on Wednesday, as Slovakia sought concessions regarding gas supplies.
The benchmark carbon contract on the European market fell by 0.42 euros to 70.89 euro per metric ton. (Reporting and editing by Susan Fenton; Marwa Rashed)
(source: Reuters)
