British and Dutch prompt wholesale gas prices eased on Monday but remained near three-month highs, as freezing temperatures increased demand for heating, while steady gas imports and high nuclear output put pressure on prices.
The British day-ahead contract fell by 12 pence to 338p/therm by 0939 GMT, Refinitiv Eikon data showed.
The British within-day gas price fell by 22p to 340p/therm.
Heavy snowfall blanketed parts of Britain, disrupting airports, train networks and roads in London, with the Met Office warning of cold weather to persist until Dec. 16.
Britain’s National Grid NG.L issued start-up instructions for two coal plants that had been on standby in case of a power crunch over the winter.
The Dutch benchmark contract for January fell by 4 euros to 131.50 euros per megawatt hour (MWh).
Refinitiv analyst said high nuclear output, steady Norwegian supplies and liquefied natural gas (LNG) imports were the main bearish factors.
Flows of gas from Norway to Europe and Britain were up by 8 million cubic metres (mcm) versus the previous day, Gassco data
showed.
“Despite the persistent cold, the rebound in Norwegian supply has helped to alleviate the tension on European gas balances,” Engie EnergyScan analysts said.
Eastbound gas flows on the Yamal-Europe pipeline to Poland from Germany also rose, as did flows of Russian gas through Ukraine into Slovakia, pipeline operator data showed.
French nuclear output surpassed 40 gigawatts (GW) for the first time in nine months this weekend as the country experiences a cold snap, grid operator RTE data showed on Sunday.
In the UK, there were no nuclear plants offline for planned maintenance.
Britain’s gas system was around 11 million cubic metres (mcm) under-supplied, with supply forecast at 388 million cubic metres (mcm) and demand at around 377 mcm, National Grid data showed.
Peak wind generation was forecast at 18.9 GW for Monday, but was expected to fall to 4.5 GW on Tuesday, Elexon data showed. Lower wind power output can mean higher demand for gas for power generation.
Europe’s gas storage was were 88.48% full, the latest data from Gas Infrastructure Europe showed.
In the European carbon market, the benchmark contract CFI2Zc1 rose by 0.87 euro to 88.71 euros a tonne.
Source: Reuters (Reporting by Bozorgmehr Sharafedin; editing by David Evans)