Dutch and British wholesale gas prices mostly fell on Friday morning as the prospect of strikes at Australian liquefied natural gas (LNG) facilities appeared to ease after companies involved began talks to avert industrial action.

The front-month Dutch contract TRNLTTFMc1 fell by 3.13 euros to 36.72 euros per megawatt hour (MWh) by 0922 GMT, Refinitiv data showed.

The Dutch-day ahead contract < TRNLTTFD1> was down 0.37 euros at 34.35 euros/MWh.

The British within-day TRGBNBPWKD price fell by 4.5 pence to 84.00 p/therm.

“Markets retreated slightly from the panic seen on Wednesday following those potential strike announcements in Australia,” consultancy Auxilione said in a daily market report.

The news of possible strikes at the Chevron CVX.N and Woodside Energy Group WDS.AX Australian LNG facilities, which together supply about 10% of the global LNG market, led to a spike in prices this week.

Prices have since cooled, with both companies saying on Thursday that they were engaged in talks with unions.

“Whilst nearly all of the Australian output delivers to the Asian markets, the news shows just how sensitive to global events European markets remain,” Auxilione said.

The British day-ahead contract TRGBNBPD1 edged up by 0.50 pence at 85.50 p/therm.

Demand from power stations is expected to rise on Monday owing to a dip in wind power generation, Refinitiv analysts said.

Refinitiv analyst Tomasz Marcin Kowalski said in a daily research note that wind power output in the UK is expected to drop over the weekend from 247 gigawatt hours per day (GWh/d) to 132 GWh/d on Monday.

In the European carbon market, the benchmark contract CFI2Zc1 edged up by 0.70 euros to 85.60 euros a tonne.
Source: Reuters (Reporting by Susanna Twidale Editing by David Goodman)