Dutch and British wholesale gas prices rose on Friday morning, supported by forecasts of cooler weather while market players weigh strong storage inventories against supply risks.

The benchmark front-month contract at the Dutch TTF hub TRNLTTFMc1 was up by 1.25 euros at 37.35 euros per megawatt hour (MWh), or $12.17/mmBtu, by 0850 GMT, LSEG data showed.

In the British market the day-ahead contract TRGBNBPD1 gained 3.05 pence to 88.95 pence per therm.

“Europe continues to face risks to its supply of liquid natural gas. Despite full inventories, global gas markets could still tighten in coming months,” ANZ Research analysts said.

Europe’s gas storage sites are 92.65% full, GIE data showed.

The region already faces the possibility of diminishing gas supplies from Russia after Ukraine stated it has no intention of renewing a deal that allowed Russian gas to pass through its country to Europe, said Daniel Hynes, senior commodity strategist at ANZ.

Meanwhile, cooler weather is expected from the day ahead onwards, LSEG analyst Ulrich Weber said.

“The latest forecast is even slightly colder, currently confirming the drop by up to 6 degrees Celsius next week,” he said, adding that demand for heating will rise significantly while the outlook for gas for power demand is weak because of expected strong nuclear and wind power output.

The biggest curbs to Norwegian production are expected from Friday to Sunday, based on latest maintenance schedules.

Russian gas producer Gazprom GAZP.MM said it would send 42.3 million cubic metres (mcm) of gas to Europe via Ukraine on Friday, the same as on Thursday.

In the European carbon market, the benchmark contract CFI2Zc1 eased by 1 euro to 67.22 euros a metric ton.
Source: Reuters (Reporting by Marwa Rashad, Editing by David Goodman)