Dutch and British wholesale gas prices fell on Tuesday morning, with the benchmark Dutch contract hitting an 11-week intraday low, on forecasts of milder weather and strong flows of liquefied natural gas (LNG).

The contract for January at the Dutch TTF hub fell by 0.75 euros to 35.75 euros per megawatt hour (MWh) by 0845 GMT, its lowest intraday level since Sept. 22, LSEG data showed.

The contract for February fell by 0.41 euros to 36.43 euros/MWh.

In the British market, the day-ahead price fell by 1.00 pence to 86.50 pence per therm.

An upward revision in temperature forecasts for the week ahead and comfortable supply fundamentals have dragged European gas prices lower.

“The latest weather runs show at or just above seasonal normal temperatures to be expected until early January which will further help keep panic at bay,” consultancy Auxilione said in a morning note.

European gas storage levels hold above 90% full, leading to forecasts that Europe will exit the winter period with comfortable levels of gas, Auxilione added.

Analysts at Engie’s EnergyScan said that supply flows remain stable at a high level with strong Norwegian gas exports, strong sendout from LNG terminals and an expected ramp-up in French nuclear generation in the next few days all likely to weigh on prompt contracts.

French nuclear availability is expected to rise to 51 gigawatts (GW) by Wednesday from around 45 GW, data from LSEG showed.

In Britain, peak wind power generation was forecast at 11.5 gigawatts (GW) on Tuesday, falling to 9.04GW on Wednesday, out of the total metered capacity of about 23 GW, Elexon data showed.

In the European carbon market, the benchmark contract CFI2Zc1 slightly rose by 0.04 euro to 67.32 euros a metric ton.
Source: Reuters (Reporting by Marwa Rashad; Editing by Susanna Twidale)