Dutch and British wholesale gas prices were largely range-bound on Thursday morning amid colder weather but as stable supply limited gains.
The benchmark front-month contract at the Dutch TTF hub TRNLTTFMc1 edged up by 0.18 euro to 41.45 euros per megawatt hour (MWh) by 0920 GMT, while the February contract was up 0.13 euro at 41.38 euros/MWh.
In Britain, the day-ahead contract TRGBNBPD1 was 0.80 pence higher at 100.00 pence per therm.
Temperatures in north-west Europe are forecast around 3 degrees Celsius lower on average for the day ahead which is driving up demand for heating.
But temperatures are expected to remain near or slightly above normal with no major cold snaps before early January at least, said Georg Muller, metereologist at LSEG.
“There is a temperature dip but it looks like decent supply is capping gains,” a gas trader said, adding that he expected prices to remain range-bound.
Norwegian gas exports to continental Europe are stable, while liquefied natural gas send-out rose by 50 gigawatt hours per day (GWh/d) to 1,809 GWh/d compared to yesterday.
As the end of Ukraine gas transit approaches, Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico will meet European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen today to discuss his hopes for alternative solutions.
On Wednesday, Ukraine’s deputy energy minister said the ciountry could develop an alternative model with Poland to substitute for the loss of the Russian gas transit route to Europe via its territory.
The model envisages cooperation between Ukraine’s underground gas storage facilities and LNG terminals in Poland.
Germany’s Bundestag is due to vote on a proposed law change in its Friday session on the elimination of a domestic gas storage levy for foreign buyers at border points and virtual trading hubs.
The Czech Republic said earlier this week it had has received assurances from Germany that it will abolish the fee.
In the European carbon market CFI2Zc1, the benchmark contract was up 0.41 euro at 65.27 euros a metric ton.
Source: Reuters (Reporting by Nina Chestney)