Prices for Europe Gas are little changed due to low demand and Norwegian gas outages
The Dutch and British wholesale prices of gas were not much different early Wednesday, as wind power production limited demand and offset lower supplies from Norway.
LSEG data shows that the benchmark Dutch front-month contract was 33.17 euros per Megawatt Hour, or $11.27/mmBtu at 0820 GMT. This is a decrease of 0.08 Euro.
LSEG data shows that the Dutch day-ahead contracts was up by 0.02 euros at 33.22 Euro/MWh.
ICE data shows that the British gas price for the front-month was lower by 1.07 pence, at 82.06 cents per therm.
The LSEG analyst Saku Jussila said in a research note that the total day-ahead outlook for Britain is once again slightly negative, with gas demand expected to drop by 7 million cubic meters/day as a result of a higher forecast on wind energy and an increase in nuclear availability.
Elexon data shows that the peak British wind power generation is expected to be 12.5 GW on Wednesday and 13 GW on Friday.
The planned maintenance on the Ormen Lange field has resulted in a decline of 18 million cubic meters in total exports.
Analysts at Mind Energy stated in a daily note that "this (Norwegian Maintenance) is not enough to cause significant volatility on the market. It is calm and quiet right now, after a summer in which storage levels in Europe increased noticeably."
LSEG data shows that the local distribution zone gas demand for Northwest Europe (which includes power plant demand) was forecast to be 582 gigawatt-hours/day in the day ahead, down 73 GWh/d compared to the previous day.
The benchmark contract on the European carbon markets was up by 0.21 euros at 72.96 euro per metric ton. (Reporting by Susanna Twidale, editing by Barbara Lewis.
(source: Reuters)
