Dutch and British wholesale gas prices were mixed on Wednesday morning due to a current cold spell lifting demand and full storages weighing on contracts further out.
The British day-ahead contract rose by 12.00 pence to 151.00 p/therm by 0958 GMT, while the within-day contract was up 10.00 pence at 155.00 p/therm, according to Refinitiv Eikon data.
The prompt is being supported by a tight UK system, lower Norwegian supply amid maintenance outages and lower deliveries of liquefied natural gas (LNG), a trader said.
The British gas system was around 24 million cubic metres (mcm) under-supplied, National Grid data showed.
Peak wind generation was expected at around 15.8 gigawatts (GW) on Wednesday, falling to 12.4 GW on Thursday, out of a total metered capacity of more than 22 GW, Elexon data showed.
Lower wind output will see gas demand for power generation increase by 19 mcm, according to Refinitiv data.
In the Dutch market, the front-month contract, a European benchmark, was down by 0.56 euros at 59.51 euros per megawatt hour (MWh), after earlier trading as low as 56.39 euros/MWh, according to data from the Intercontinental Exchange (ICE).
Prices had rallied late on Tuesday on the cold weather this week and next and with wind output being rather muted, analyst at Energi Danmark said in a morning note.
“With wind and temperature forecasts for next week revised up for central and western Europe, the market is softer this morning,” they added.
The current cold weather will slowly change towards a milder scenario, Refinitiv analyst Georg Mueller said in his daily forecast.
“The signs for this look a bit more solid than yesterday, so that the likelihood of a milder start to February has increased a bit,” he added.
Storages also remain healthy and there are still only few signs of increased LNG demand from Asia, despite lower prices in Europe, analysts and traders said.
Europe-wide gas storage sites were 81.1% full, according to Gas Infrastructure Europe data.
In the European carbon market, the benchmark contract was down by 0.66 euros at 78.90 euros a tonne.
Source: Reuters (Reporting by Nora Buli in Oslo; editing by Nina Chestney)