Dutch and British wholesale gas prices retreated from two-year highs on Tuesday morning but concerns over storage levels and lower temperatures provided support.

The benchmark front-month contract at the Dutch TTF hub (TRNLTTFMc1) was down 1.21 euro at 57.05 euros per megawatt hour (MWh), or $17.25/mmBtu, by 0922 GMT, according to LSEG data.

The contract hit an intra-day high of 58.51 euros/MWh on Monday, its highest level since February 2023.

The Dutch April contract (TRNLTTFMc2) was down 1.09 euro at 56.90 euros/MWh.

In Britain, the front-month contract (TRGBNBPMc1) was down 3.12 pence at 139.18 p/therm on ICE.

“Colder temperature forecasts and an underlying concern around gas storage levels are driving concerns around refilling plans for next winter,” analysts at Auxilione said.

The analysts said there was no real ceiling for prices and there is scope for them to rise further.
“In the meantime, we may have days of retracement… whilst a further upward push is in motion,” the analysts said.

Europe’s gas stores are currently 48.48% full, data from gas Infrastructure Europe showed.

“EU storage fill levels could drop just below 40% by the end of this heating season, meaning that Europe would need to inject 55 bcm (billion cubic metres) of gas into storage this summer to meet its 90% fill target,” Greg Molnar, gas analyst at the International Energy Agency, said on LinkedIn

In the European carbon market, the benchmark contract (CFI2Zc1) was down 0.85 euro at 82.11 euros a metric ton.
Source: Reuters