Dutch and British wholesale gas prices moved in a narrow range early on Wednesday as the market anticipated a rise in Norwegian production to meet increased demand for heating.

The benchmark Dutch front-month contract at the TTF hub was down 0.22 euro at 32.03 euros per megawatt hour, or $11.05/mmBtu, by 0915 GMT, LSEG data showed.

The British front-month gas price eased 0.52 pence to 80.01 pence per therm.

The British day-ahead contract (TRGBNBPD1) was down 0.30 p at 79.70 p/therm.

In Northwest Europe local distribution zone demand, which refers to residential demand for heating, was forecast to rise by one million cubic meters per day to 84 mcm/d for the day-ahead, as temperatures are expected to fall over the next 15 days, LSEG data showed.

“Norwegian flows struggling to get back to full throttle, with ongoing unplanned maintenance at selected assets, will be a concern but hopefully resolved in the coming days,” Tony Jordan, director of consultancy, Auxilione, said in a morning note.
Planned maintenance is expected on Wednesday at Karsto gas processing plant. Meanwhile Langeled gas pipeline has increased production by 2 mcm/d to max capacity at 75mcm/d and production through the Vesterled gas pipeline has risen by 11mcm/d to 17mcm/d, LSEG data showed.

“There is high-impact maintenance at several fields delivering to Karsto. On Thursday, we expect a 40mcm/d increase in total Norwegian flows and another 3mcm/d increase on Friday,” said LSEG analyst Saku Jussila.

Europe’s gas stores are 81.96% full, the latest data from Gas Infrastructure Europe showed.

In the European carbon market, the benchmark contract (CFI2Zc1) was down 0.03 euro at 76.12 euros a metric ton.

Source: Reuters