British and Dutch gas prices eased on Thursday morning as mild temperatures for the time of year curbed demand and high gas storage levels weighed on the market.

The benchmark front-month contract at the Dutch TTF hub was down 1.52 euros at 33.66 euros per megawatt hour (MWh) by 0922 GMT, LSEG data showed.

The February contract fell 1.68 euros to 34.22 euros per megawatt hour.

In Britain, the front month contract fell by 4.18 pence to 85.80 pence per therm.

“A westerly flow with widespread warmth in Europe and unsettled conditions over Northwest Europe will last until early next week,” LSEG meteorologist Marcin Gorski said in a daily research note.

“Temperatures will remain 2-7 degrees C above normal, with the warmest conditions slowly moving to the east,” Gorski said.

Britain’s gas system was slightly undersupplied, with supply forecast at 222.4 million cubic metres (mcm) and demand at 227.3 mcm, National Gas company data showed.

Thursday’s demand was significantly down on the seasonal norm for this time of year of 263.5 mcm, the data showed.

High wind power output also dented gas demand from power plants.

In Britain, peak wind power generation was forecast at 17.6 gigawatts (GW) on Thursday and 17.2 mcm on Friday , out of the total metered capacity of about 23 GW, Elexon data showed.

Europe’s gas stores are currently 87% full, the latest data from Gas Infrastructure Europe showed.

In the European carbon market, the benchmark contract CFI2Zc1 slipped 0.52 euros to 79.47 euros a metric ton.
Source: Reuters (Reporting By Susanna Twidale)