Dutch wholesale gas prices inched lower on Monday as storage sites are still near full and the weather is forecast to remain mild, with trading activity muted by the bank holiday.

The benchmark Dutch TTF hub front-month contract was down 2.57 euros at 73.75 euros per megawatt hour (MWh) by 1022 GMT, after opening at 70.30 euros/MWg, according to data from the Intercontinental Energy Exchange (ICE).

Also Dutch contracts further out into the future traded lower.

The British gas market remained closed on Monday due to the New Year’s Day substitute bank holiday.

“Even though prices are still much higher than a historical normal, the TTF front-month contract now trades at the lowest level since the war in Ukraine broke out back in February last year,” analysts at Energi Danmark said in a note.

Mild and windy weather as well as an overall very healthy supply outlook saw the market ease a bit in the last days of December, they added.

The weather will be “mild and partially unsettled until January 10”, Refinitiv meteorologist Georg Mueller said.

Afterwards, conditions should return to “near normal”, he added.

Europe-wide gas storages were 83.3% full, with the region’s biggest consumer Germany seeing filling levels of 90.1%, according to Gas Infrastructure Europe data.

Germany has been re-filling storages for 11 consecutive days during the Christmas and New Year holiday period.

UK peak wind generation is forecast at around 5.7 gigawatts (GW) on Monday, jumping to 15.3 GW on Tuesday, out of total metered capacity of 22 GW, Elexon data showed.

Stronger wind output typically reduces demand for gas from power plants.

Europe and Britain also remain well-supplied with liquefied natural gas (LNG), with a busy arrival schedule for import terminals in the region.
Source: Reuters