Dutch and British wholesale prices were largely stable on Tuesday morning as milder weather forecasts weighed on heating demand and a potential ceasefire in Lebanon eased concerns about energy supply disruptions in the Middle East.
The benchmark front-month contract at the Dutch TTF hub TRNLTTFMc1 was edged up by 0.08 euro to 48.14 euros per megawatt hour (MWh) by 1003 GMT.
The day-ahead contract TRNLTTFD1 inched down by 0.40 euro to 47.03 euros/MWh.
In Britain, the front-month contract TRGBNBPMc1 was 0.60 pence higher at 120.80 pence per therm.
A slightly milder short-term weather forecast was bearish for prices.
“Major cold spells are not likely before mid-December with near normal temperatures the most likely outcome for the next two weeks,” said Georg Muller, metereologist at LSEG.
News of a potential ceasefire in Lebanon between armed group Hezbollah and Israel has also helped to calm nervousness around disruption to Middle Eastern energy supplies.
U.S. President Joe Biden and French President Emmanuel Macron are expected to announce a ceasefire in Lebanon between armed group Hezbollah and Israel imminently, four senior Lebanese sources said on Monday.
Meanwhile, Australia’s Woodside Energy said it has safely shut down the Pluto LNG processing plant due to a fault in the facility’s control system.
“With a liquefaction amount of roughly 20 mcm/d the plant is not too big, nonetheless a prolonged shutdown would cause competition on the Asian spot market which then affects TTF,” said Ulrich Weber, gas analyst at LSEG.
On Monday, Trump pledged an additional 10% tariff on goods from China and a 25% tariff on all products from Mexico and Canada from his first day in office.
The proposed tariffs will likely hurt economic growth and disrupt trade flows and could make crude oil and gas more expensive in the United States as Canada is one of the major suppliers of energy products.
But tight supplies from external markets could also lead to bigger investments into shale drilling that may help push domestic production higher, said analysts at ING.
In the European carbon market CFI2Zc1, the benchmark contract inched down by 0.18 euro to 69.68 euros per metric ton.
Source: Reuters (Reporting by Nina Chestney)