Dutch and British wholesale gas prices inched up on Wednesday morning but remain rangebound, lacking a clear direction.

The benchmark Dutch front-month contract (TRNLTTFMc1) edged up by 0.10 euro to 34.20 euros per megawatt hour (MWh) by 0821 GMT, while the June contract was 0.65 euro higher at 34.88 euros/MWh, according to LSEG data.

The British day-ahead contract (TRGBNBPD1) was up 0.85 pence at 85.35 pence per therm.

“(It is) a very moderate rebound which shows that the market is still hesitant about the price direction,” said analysts at Engie EnergyScan.

Norwegian flows to continental Europe are down slightly as some flows have been re-routed to Britain. Liquefied natural gas (LNG) send-out is flat, LSEG data showed.

Germany’s Wilhelmshaven LNG terminal is carrying out scheduled repair work on the superstructure on the jetty of its transhipment facility from April 23.

Meanwhile, temperature forecasts have been revised slightly higher for the first week of May.

The European Commission is assessing whether it could legislate to forbid firms in the European Union from signing new contracts for Russian fossil fuels, a senior EU official said on Tuesday.

It is also working on legal options to allow EU companies to break existing gas supply contracts with Russia without facing penalties, the senior official added.

“While Russian pipeline flows have fallen significantly in recent years, Russian LNG arrivals into Europe have grown. The fact that the EU is looking at options to reduce flows suggests that a return of Russian pipeline gas to Europe as part of a Russia/Ukraine peace deal is unlikely,” said analysts at ING.

In the European carbon market, the benchmark contract (CFI2Zc1) was up 1.16 euro at 65.55 euros a metric ton.
Source: Reuters