The Dutch front-month contract of EUROPE GAS has reached a one-month low
Dutch and British wholesale contracts for gas fell on Monday morning. The Dutch benchmark price had reached a low of one month earlier in the day, due to milder weather forecasts and stable supplies.
By 0932 GMT, the benchmark Dutch front-month contract was trading at 31.13 euro per megawatt hour. LSEG data shows that it had dropped to 30.67 euro in early trade, its lowest level since mid-January.
The contract for April dropped by 0.67 euros to 30.18 euros/MWh.
LSEG data revealed that temperatures in the north-west of Europe are expected to drop this week. However, forecasts for next week have been?revised milder.
The German wind energy generation is expected to decline this week, but then rise above average next week. This could reduce the demand for gas in power plants.
Norwegian exports remain'stable', but LNG send-outs are expected to increase from Friday levels. In the next two weeks, 14 new cargoes will arrive in North-West Europe.
Gas storage withdrawals could be slowed by milder weather and a stable supply, but the levels are still low.
Energy Aspects analysts predicted that Europe's winter gas inventories would be at their lowest level in 7 years, and they would need to inject much more gas into storage during the summer months to bring them up to the required levels.
This year, new LNG supplies are expected to begin coming on line.
"European LNG Imports (ex. Energy Aspects reported that "Turkey" is expected to increase by 11 million tonnes a year on the previous year this summer, bringing its total to 63 million tonnes. This will support the increased y/y gas demand and higher stockbuild.
We think Europe will absorb the majority of the growth in global LNG supplies this summer. This is expected to grow by 18 million tonnes a year, after adjusting for unplanned outages. "The rest of the supply will mostly be headed to 'Asia with China and India leading the y/y increase," they added.
The March contract on the British gas market fell by 3.33 cents to 73.07 cents per therm.
The benchmark contract on the European carbon markets increased by 0.32 euros to 71.00 euro per metric ton.
(source: Reuters)
