Dutch and British wholesale gas prices were mixed on Tuesday after the extension of Norwegian outages and as concerns about an aborted mutiny in Russia at the weekend eased.
The Dutch benchmark front-month contract TRNLTTFMc1 was down 0.20 euros at 32.25 euros per megawatt hour (MWh) by 0856 GMT, while the day ahead contract TRNLTTFD1 was little changed at 32.66 euros/MWh, Refinitiv Eikon data showed.
The Dutch contract for August TRNLTTFMc2 rose by 0.33 euros to 32.63 euros/MWh.
The British equivalent day-ahead contract TRGBNBPD1 was up by 0.80 pence at 81.00 p/therm, while the contract for July TRGBNBPMc1 rose by 1.00 pence to 80.50 p/therm.
New and extended outages at Norway’s Oseberg and Kårstø facilities are affecting gas flows over the next two weeks and any news of further extension to maintenance could support prices, traders said.
However, Refinitiv analyst Yuriy Onyshkiv said that robust flows of liquefied natural gas (LNG) for July at France’s Montoir and Fos terminals, as well as high stock levels are are weighinging on prices.
Gas exports from Russia to Europe remained stable on Monday. Russia’s Gazprom said that it would send 41.7 million cubic metres of gas to Europe via Ukraine on Monday, a similar level to recent days.
The mutiny by Russia’s Wagner mercenary group at the weekend had stoked concerns about the remaining Russian gas supply route via Ukraine.
“Obviously, there would have been concerns over the remaining Russian pipeline flows to Europe following developments in Russia over the weekend. However, fundamentals for the European gas market are still bearish in the short term,” said analysts at ING.
EU gas storage continues to fill up and is now more than 76% full, well above the 57% seen at the same stage last year and also higher than the five-year average of 60%. In the absence of any significant supply shocks, EU gas storage will hit the European Commission’s target of 90% full well before Nov. 1, they added.
In the European carbon market, the benchmark contract CFI2Zc1 was up 0.87 euros at 87.12 euros per metric ton.
Source: Reuters (Reporting by Marwa Rashad;Editing by Nina Chestney)