Dutch and British front-month gas contracts fell to their lowest level in four weeks on Tuesday morning before rising slightly again, with Norwegian supply set to improve this week after a heavy maintenance period and storage sites continuing to fill.

The benchmark front-month Dutch contract touched 29.40 euros per megawatt hour (MWh), its lowest level since June 13, but traded up by 0.35 euros at 30 euros/MWh by 0821 GMT, according to Refinitiv Eikon data.

The British front-month contract NGLNMQ3 was down 0.30 pence at 73.23 pence per therm, after earlier also hitting a four-week low of 71 p/therm, ICE data showed.

“Norwegian gas flows have partially recovered from levels seen in late May and June, although they are still well below pre-maintenance levels,” analysts at ING Research said in daily briefing.

European Union storage sites continue to fill at a good pace with ING believing they will be full well ahead of the next heating season, suggesting further downside in prices over the Northern Hemisphere over the summer months, they added.

More Norwegian gas capacity is expected to return this week, with unavailability dropping from around 111 million cubic metres (mcm) per day on Tuesday to 89 mcm/day by Thursday, according to data from Norwegian infrastructure operator Gassco.

The British day-ahead contract TRGBNBPD1 rose by 0.30 pence to 73.00 p/therm, while its Dutch counterpart TRNLTTFD1 was down 1.38 euros at 29.95 euros/MWh.

The British gas system was short by 13.2 mcm/day on Tuesday morning, according to data from National Gas.

Wind power generation in Germany is expected to increase on Wednesday, cutting demand for gas in the power sector, Refinitiv analyst Tomasz Marcin Kowalski said.

In the European carbon market, the benchmark contract CFI2Zc1 edged down by 0.86 euro to 85.44 euros a tonne.
Source: Reuters (Reporting by Nora Buli in Oslo; Editing by Susanna Twidale)