Dutch and British wholesale gas prices rose slightly on Monday morning but were still trading in a narrow range as supply was stable but market players are monitoring Asian spot demand amid concerns a heatwave may limit cargoes needed to refill storage facilities.

The benchmark Dutch front-month contract at the TTF hub (TRNLTTFMc1) inched up by 0.20 euro to 35.85 euros per megawatt hour (MWh) by 0858 GMT, or $12.27/mmBtu, LSEG data showed.

The day-ahead contract (TRNLTTFD1) was 0.25 euro higher at 34.95 euros/MWh.

The British day-ahead contract (TRGBNBPD1) was up 1.28 pence at 85.28 pence per therm.

Wind speeds are forecast slightly higher tomorrow compared to today, leading to a down tick in gas-fired power demand, LSEG data showed.

Total Norwegian export nominations were flat at 321 million cubic meters per day.

“We expect sideways trading to continue as fundamentals are mostly flat. However, the regional players need to keep competing for spot LNG cargoes against Asian buyers which should support prices,” said LSEG analyst Saku Jussila.

EU gas market players are monitoring Asian spot demand amid concerns that a heat wave in north Asia will limit the amount of LNG available to help refill its storage facilities, said Daniel Hynes, senior commodity strategist at ANZ.

“An increase in spot purchases from buyers such as Japan and South Korea have been triggered by declining inventories. LNG inventories held by Japanese utilities slid to their lowest in almost two months amid strong power consumption,” he added.

EU gas storage inventories are 62.58% full, according to data from Gas Infrastructure Europe.

In the European carbon market, the benchmark contract (CFI2Zc1) was up by 0.48 euro to 71.03 euros a metric ton.
Source: Reuters