Dutch and British wholesale gas prices eased on Monday morning amid forecasts of slightly milder weather and as the market monitored talks over a possible ceasefire to the conflict in Ukraine.
The Dutch front-month contract (TRNLTTFMc1) slipped by 0.48 euro to 41.67 euros per megawatt hour (MWh) by 0955 GMT, LSEG data showed.
The Dutch May contract (TRNLTTFMc2) was down 0.63 euro at 41.50 euros/MWh.
The British front-month contract (TRGBNBPMc1) was down 1.80 pence at 102.40 p/therm.
“Later this week, slightly warmer temperatures than earlier expected are likely to bring some softness to the market sentiment while LNG and Norwegian supply remain robust and unchanged,” said LSEG analyst Yuriy Onyshkiv.
The latest forecasts show temperatures are set to rise this week across the Northwest Europe, peaking on Saturday and some 1 degree Celsius higher than expected previously in the second half of this week, LSEG data showed.
Demand for heating is forecast to rise by 108 gigawatt hour per day (GWh/d) on the day-ahead to 4,136 GWh/d on slightly cooler weather tomorrow, but it is down for the weekend by 163 GWh/d at 2,137 GWh/d.
Overall, the European spot balance remains tight, with a storage deficit that is not reducing. EU gas stocks are 35.01% full, compared to 59.72% last year, analysts at Engie’s EnergyScan said.
Asia JKM prices were slightly down, which makes shipping gas to Europe rather than Asia more favourable to U.S. LNG exporters.
The market is closely monitoring developments around possible ceasefire to the war in Ukraine.
U.S. President Donald Trump said he plans to speak to Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday and discuss ending the war in Ukraine after positive talks between U.S. and Russian officials in Moscow.
The Kremlin said on Friday that Putin had sent Trump a message about his ceasefire plan via U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff, who held talks in Moscow, expressing “cautious optimism” that a deal could be reached to end the three-year conflict.
In the European carbon market, the benchmark contract (CFI2Zc1) edged down by 0.89 euro to 70.10 euros a metric ton.
Source: Reuters