Prices for European gas are down from a six-week peak as Norwegian supplies rise
The wholesale gas prices in the Netherlands and Britain fell on Thursday after reaching their highest levels in over six weeks on Tuesday, when Norwegian supplies rose again after maintenance.
By 0858 GMT, the benchmark Dutch front-month contract had fallen 0.05 euros to 37.00 euros per Megawatt Hour.
The British contract for the month of June fell 0.43 pence, to 89.02 p/therm. Day-ahead gas also dropped 1.37 pence, at 87.88 pence/therm.
LSEG data indicates that heavy maintenance in Norway supported the price this week. However, on Thursday, total Norwegian exports soared by 85 million cubic metres per day (mcm/d), to 243 mcm/d. This was due to the end of a full shutdown at Kollsnes, and Troll. Flows to the continent are expected to rise by 67 mcm/d up to 201 mcm/d.
The drop in temperatures is driving a rise in the demand for local distribution zones (LDZ), mainly for heating. This will increase by 144 gigawatt-hours per day (GWh/d), to 1360 GWh/d. LSEG analyst Oleh Scrynyk said that wind generation is also expected to fluctuate despite being high. This could support gas demand.
The Troll field in Norway was out of service twice. This added 63 mcm/d to the total capacity unavailable for Thursday.
The Troll outage extension today has increased the uncertainty of the DA outlook. Skrynyk stated that while the base case is still sideways or bearish, uncertainty over Norwegian flows may limit the downside potential.
The rise on Wednesday has also benefited traders.
"For the moment, this decline is mainly due to profit-taking and appears insufficient to reverse bullish momentum.
Gas Infrastructure Europe's data shows that EU gas storage inventories have reached 45,15 % capacity.
The benchmark contract on the European carbon markets was nearly flat at 72.73 Euros per metric ton. (Reporting and editing by Hugh Lawson; Marwa Rashad)
(source: Reuters)
