Dutch and British wholesale gas prices held close to four-week lows as the market awaited news from talks between the U.S. and Russia about how to end the conflict in Ukraine and as strong renewables output curbed demand.

The benchmark front-month contract at the Dutch TTF hub (TRNLTTFMc1) was down 0.07 euro at 47.65 euros per megawatt hour (MWh), or $14.60/mmBtu, by 0913 GMT, according to LSEG data.

The contract earlier traded at 47.15 euros/MWh, its lowest level since January 20.

The Dutch April contract (TRNLTTFMc2) was down 0.29 euro at 47.44 euros/MWh.

In Britain, the day-ahead contract (TRGBNBPD1) was down 2.65 pence at 115.1 p/therm.

The TTF benchmark front-month contract has fallen around 20% since hitting an intra-day two-year high on February 10 of 59.27 euros/MWh, according to LSEG data.

Greg Molnar, gas analyst at the International Energy Agency, said the recent price slump was “driven by the potential softening of EU storage targets, peace talks with Russia and milder weather forecasts for northwest Europe.”

“In addition, weak demand in Asia, especially in China, is also adding to the bearish picture,” he said on a post on LinkedIn.

U.S. and Russian officials were meeting on Tuesday in Riyadh which could pave the way for a summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and his Russian counterpart.

Strong renewable power output and warmer temperatures have led to weaker forecasts for gas demand which also weighed on prices.

Analysts at LSEG said total demand for north-west Europe was expected to fall around 600 gigawatt hours a day for the day-ahead.

“The recent (temperatures) run is in line with the previous forecast, indicating a strong increase in temperatures above normal (levels) over the next three days,” LSEG analyst Yuriy Onyshkiv said.

In the European carbon market (CFI2Zc1), the benchmark contract was down 0.30 euro at 76.88 euros a metric ton.
Source: Reuters