Dutch and British wholesale gas prices were mixed on Thursday morning, trading in a narrow range, amid softer demand and strong inventories.

The benchmark front-month contract at the Dutch TTF hub TRNLTTFMc1 was 0.2 euros higher at 33.00 euros per megawatt hour (MWh), or $10.44/mmBtu, by 0900 GMT, LSEG data showed.

In the British market, the month-ahead contract TRGBNBPMc1 was 0.9 pence lower at 77.00 pence per therm.

The contract for September TRGBNBPMc2 was down by 1.8 pence to 81.1 p/therm, LSEG data showed.

“The bearish bias is confirmed, but it is still too early to conclude that a downtrend has emerged,” analysts at Engie’s EnergyScan said in a morning note.

LSEG analyst Yuriy Onyshkiv said that the outlook on the day ahead is moderately bearish amid a lower demand forecast, while the remainder of the fundamental picture remains unchanged.

Demand in Northwest Europe is expected to weaken on the day ahead with demand for heating forecast to drop by 77 gigawatt hour per day (GWh/d) to 881 GWh/d and demand for power falling by 107 GWh/d to 1730 GWh/d on strong wind, LSEG data showed

“Technically, the prices have broken through the 200-day moving average support level and are now at the next support level at a 32.5 EUR/MWh. Once this is broken through, it would open the path toward weaker price corridor,” Onyshkiv added.

European gas storage facilities were last seen 77.87% full, data from Gas Infrastructure Europe (GIE) shows.

Total Norwegian export nominations are stable amid no changes in maintenance schedule.

In Britain, robust Norwegian supply and reduced demand amid strong renewables have kept the UK market loose.

Peak wind power generation in the UK is forecast at 16.2 gigawatts (GW) on Thursday and 15.7 GW on Friday, Elexon data showed.

In the European carbon market, the benchmark contract CFI2Zc1 eased by 0.31 euro to 70.45 euros per metric ton.
Source: Reuters (Reporting by Marwa Rashad; Editing by Anil D’Silva)