British and Dutch gas prices were mixed on Thursday morning as strong supply and healthy storage levels offset high demand because of cool weather.

The British day-ahead contract was up 1 pence at 125p per therm by 0959 GMT, Refinitiv Eikon data showed.

The equivalent Dutch day-ahead contract edged down by 0.05 euros to 48.70 euros per megawatt hour (MWh).

The front-month contract at the Dutch TTF hub a European benchmark, was up by 0.10 euros at 47.95 euros/MWh, the Refinitiv Eikon data showed.

Temperatures are slightly below normal for the time of year, Refinitiv meteorologist Georg Muller said in a daily research note.

“Next week is seen a bit colder than in the previous runs, as cold air is expected to move further south,” Muller said.

Price gains were limited as the low temperatures have largely been priced in and healthy storage levels and strong supplies of liquefied natural gas (LNG) continue to put bearish pressure on the market, traders said.

Europe’s gas stores are 61.1 % full, the latest data from Gas Infrastructure Europe showed.

UniCredit analysts, however, said gas prices are likely to rise later in the year, especially if industrial demand returns and consumption increases from 2022 levels.

“With lower consumption cuts … Europe will need to secure more imports of LNG, which is in short supply. And the situation could become more complex if there were a complete halt of imports of Russian gas,” UniCredit economist Edoardo Campanella said in a research note.

“We expect TTF prices to average 80-90 euros/MWh in 2H23,” he said.

Russia’s Gazprom said it will ship 42.4 million cubic metres of gas to Europe via Ukraine on Thursday.

In the European carbon market, the benchmark contract fell by 0.54 euros to 96.75 euros a tonne.
Source: Reuters (Reporting by Susanna Twidale Editing by David Goodman )