Dutch and British wholesale gas prices were little changed on Friday morning on expectations of higher Norwegian pipeline supply next week and muted demand.

The benchmark front-month Dutch contract TRNLTTFMc1 was up 0.90 euro at 33.40 euros per megawatt hour (MWh) by 0847 GMT, with the September contract TRNLTTFMc2 inched up by 0.12 euro to 34.40 euros/MWh, according to Refinitiv Eikon data.

The British September price TRGBNBPMU3 edged down by 0.20 pence to 85.75 pence per therm.

The end of maintenance outage at the Norwegian Oseberg gas field has been brought forward to July 9 from July 10, while Troll’s capacity reduction of 21.5 million cubic metres (mcm) per day continues until July 10.

Gassco has also announced the partial return of the Dvalin gas field, which was completely shut down due to problems with mercury contamination. The field is expected to start producing 3 mcm/d from July 17.

“The next key milestone for European gas markets remains the expected restart of the Nyhamna processing platform in Norway which outage extension until July 15 has been one of the main drivers of the June price rally,” said analysts at Engie EnergyScan.

The plant was shut down due to issues with the cooling system.

Weak gas demand and high storage levels are also weighing on prices, gas traders said.

Francisco Blanch, commodity & derivatives strategist at BofA said Nyhamna maintenance, coupled with U.S. LNG maintenance and hot temperatures that boosted Asian LNG demand, spooked speculators last month who had been holding short positions and riding prices lower.

“The spike and subsequent crash in prices pushed 30 day volatility up to 150 from less than 50 in early June. (Dutch gas) is currently trading around 34 euros/MWh, but the inventory trajectory and weak macro backdrop pose downside risk to prices ahead of winter,” he added.

In the European carbon market, the benchmark contract CFI2Zc1 edged up by 0.18 euro to 86.14 euros a tonne.
Source: Reuters (Reporting by Nina Chestney)