Dutch and British gas prices rose on Thursday morning as lower wind and cooler weather helped demand, but full storage and robust flows of liquefied natural gas (LNG) limited gains.

The Dutch day-ahead contract gained 0.52 euro to 44.70 euros per megawatt hour (MWh). The Dutch front-month contract was up 1.75 euros at 47.40 euros/MWh by 0951 GMT, according to ICE data.

The British day-ahead contract TRGBNBPD1 rose by 2.50 pence to 109.00 pence/therm, with the weekend contract TRGBNBPWE rose 2.50 pence to 108.50 p/therm, according to LSEG data.

“The market has recently dipped quite a bit due to fundamentals, but it is taking back some of the drop due to continued escalation in the middle east and worries about the weather,” a European gas trader said.

LSEG analyst Ulrich Weber said in a daily note that both heating as well as gas for power consumption are seen rising on the day ahead as temperatures will fall further until Sunday.

“The upside still seems limited on good supply and an overall warm next week,” he added.

Oxford Institute of Energy Studies (OIES) said that as the Israel-Hamas conflict continues, the prospect of the EU receiving more LNG from Egypt in the short and medium term looks unachievable due to tight gas balances and reduced imports form Israel.

Europe’s gas storage sites were last seen 99.61% full, a record level for the time of year, according to the latest Gas Infrastructure Europe data.

Peak wind power generation in Britain was forecast at 10.1 gigawatts (GW) on Thuesday and at 10.7 GW on Friday, out of a total metered capacity of around 23 GW, Elexon data showed.

In the European carbon market, the benchmark contract CFI2Zc1 rose by 0.25 euro to 75.95 euros a tonne.
Source: Reuters (Reporting by Marwa Rashad, Editing by Nivedita Bhattacharjee)