Dutch and British wholesale gas contracts eased on Monday morning as milder forecasts and well-filled storage helped offset shipping concerns around liquefied natural gas (LNG) as tension in the Middle East remained high.

The benchmark front-month contract at the Dutch TTF hub was down 1.10 euros at 30.50 euros per megawatt hour (MWh) by 0949, LSEG data showed.

In Britain, the front-month contract shed 4.32 pence to 75.60 pence per therm.

The longer-dated weather forecast shows milder weather, with a current cold spell set to end at the end of the week, a trader said.

“We are definitely going to make it out of the winter with good storage,” he added.

Temperatures in north-west Europe will rise to 1-3 degrees Celsius above normal and potentially even more late next week, LSEG meteorologist Marcin Gorski said.

European gas storage sites were 79.7% full, dropping below 2023 levels but holding above the average of the last five years, after cold weather saw the strongest withdrawals so far this winter, latest data from Gas Infrastructure Europe showed.

Prices eased despite news that QatarEnergy has paused shipments of LNG via the Red Sea as it awaits security advice amid further escalation in the region after U.S. and British forces launched dozens of air strikes against Houthi forces.

“The current concern is escalation around the Red Sea and the impact on shipping costs which may in turn influence LNG prices,” consultancy Auxilione said in a morning report.

However, Qatari supply is not impacted, which was the most important aspect, a trader said.

On the prompt, the Dutch day-ahead contract fell by 1.25 euros to 30.50 euros/MWh, LSEG data showed.

The British day-ahead contract TRGBNBPD1 was down 1.90 pence at 78.50 p/therm, while the within-day contract TRGBNBPWKD fell by 2.00 pence to 78.50 p/therm.

In the European carbon market, the benchmark contract CFI2Zc1 fell by 0.08 euros to 65.73 euros a metric ton.
Source: Reuters (Reporting by Nora Buli in Oslo; editing by Nina Chestney)