Dutch and British wholesale gas prices edged lower on Monday morning as strong pipeline gas supplies and liquefied natural gas (LNG) helped to offset high demand as temperatures fell.

The benchmark front-month contract at the Dutch TTF hub was down 1.97 euro at 32.31 euros per megawatt hour (MWh) by 1023 GMT, LSEG data showed.

The March contract fell by 1.60 euro to 32.95 euros/Mwh.

In Britain, the front-month contract fell by 5.47 pence to 81.55 pence per therm.

“(The) weekend’s arrival of three LNG cargoes that were queuing up for the past week due to harsh berthing conditions and the follow-up lift in send-outs from LNG terminals will help loosen the balance and meet a weather-driven spike in gas consumption this week,” LSEG analyst Yuriy Onyshkiv said in a daily research note.

Temperatures have fallen below seasonal norms in many parts of Britain and Europe this week, increasing demand for gas for heating.

In north-west Europe, local distribution zone (LDZ) demand, which is primarily used for heating, is expected to rise by 373 gigawatt hours a day (GWh/d) to 5,978 GWh/d on Tuesday with temperatures forecast to drop to around minus 3 degrees Celsius, Onyshkiv said.

High gas storage levels also contributed to downwards pressure on prices. Europe’s gas storage sites are almost 85% full, the latest data from Gas Infrastructure Europe showed.

In the European carbon market, the benchmark contract slipped 2.74 euros to 73.73 euros a metric ton.
Source: Reuters (Reporting by Susanna Twidale; editing by Nina Chestney)