Dutch wholesale gas prices traded in a narrow range on Thursday morning amid soft demand as temperatures rose slightly, while market players continue to keep an eye on U.S.-China trade talks.

The benchmark Dutch front-month contract inched down 0.55 euro to 34.85 euros per megawatt hour (MWh), or $11.07/mmBtu, at 0825 GMT, while the July contract edged up by 0.43 euro to 34.78 euros/MWh, according to LSEG data.

The British June contract was down 0.45 pence at 83.35 p/therm, LSEG data showed.

U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday suggested China initiated upcoming trade talks between the two countries and said he was not willing to cut tariffs on Chinese goods to get Beijing to the negotiating table.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Trade Representative Jamieson Greer will meet with China’s top economic official on Saturday in Switzerland, marking an initial step in potential negotiations over a blistering trade war.

Average temperatures in north-west Europe are expected to increase slightly towards the weekend.

Local distribution zone demand, mainly used for heating, is forecast to be 111 gigawatt hours per day (GWh/d) down at 1495 GWh/d on the day ahead, 70 GWh/d down at 1097 GWh/d on weekend and 171 GWh/d down at 1000 GWh/d on working days next week, with higher temperatures throughout the period being slightly up, said LSEG analyst Dzmitry Dauhalevich.

Total Norwegian exports are nominated up by 5 million cubic meters per day (mcm/d) at 284 mcm/d, which is almost sideways, with flows to the UK and Continental Europe constituting equal shares of this slight increase, LSEG data showed.

Norway’s Troll gas field has returned from maintenance, but Kollsnes is scheduled to return tomorrow morning, freeing 43 mcm/d their combined capacity.

“Fundamentally, decreased total consumption and restored Norwegian flows provide bearish signals. Combined with rather bearish technical factors, our forecast for TTF DA is sideways/bearish,” Dauhalevich said.

In the U.S., Freeport LNG’s export plant in Texas was set to take in more natural gas on Wednesday after shutting on Tuesday, a sign the plant was exiting an outage.

In the European carbon market, the benchmark contract was up 0.46 euro at 71.52 euros per metric ton.

Source: Reuters