British and Dutch wholesale gas prices fell on Friday morning on strong supply of Norwegian gas and liquefied natural gas (LNG) cargoes while Europe’s stock levels remained high.

The British day-ahead contract was down 8 pence at 110 pence/therm by 1021 GMT.

The Dutch day-ahead contract fell by 13.62 euros to 64.38 euros per megawatt hour (MWh)

In the UK, the gas system was oversupplied by 16.8 million cubic metres (mcm), National Grid data showed.

Supply from Britain’s LNG terminals was expected at 104 mcm/day on Friday, up 20 mcm from the previous day, Refinitiv Eikon data showed.
Nominations, or requests, for Norwegian pipeline gas by Britain, Germany and France rose by a combined 11 mcm on Friday, Gassco data showed.

“The market may also have realised that, despite net withdrawals in some countries, total EU gas stocks continued to rise,” Engie EnergyScan analysts said.

Europe’s gas stores were 95% full, according to the latest data from Gas Infrastructure Europe.

The benchmark front-month Dutch contract was down 6.50 euros at 123.50 euros/MWh.

The British front-month contract fell by 6.93 pence to 304.07 p/therm.

Analysts said the expectation of colder weather to come had limited the fall.

“The colder weather forecast at the end of November and in December is likely to continue supporting FM (front-month) prices on the overly sensitive market,” Refinitiv analysts said in a daily research note.

In the European carbon market, the benchmark contract was up 2.51 euros at 78.79 euros a tonne.
Source: Reuters (Reporting by Susanna Twidale Editing by David Goodman )