Dutch and British Gas Prices Rise on Cooler Forecast, Low Storage

Temperatures expected to turn cooler after mild spell Gas storage sites 72.67% full Signs of Qatari LNG exports By Susanna Twidale LONDON, Oct 6 (Reuters) — Dutch and British gas prices rose on Tuesday morning, with temperatures expected to turn cooler and on low gas storage levels. The benchmark Dutch front-month contract at the TTF hub was up €2.687 at €76.20 ($85.56) per megawatt hour (MWh) or around $25.08 /mmBtu, by 0818 GMT, ICE data showed. The British front-month contract was up 6.87 pence at 190.46 pence per therm. “Weather forecasts for northwestern Europe have been revised lower for the second half of October and are now around 0.3 degrees above the 10-year average,” analysts at Northern Gas and Power said in a daily research note. Europe’s gas storage sites are 72.67% full, Gas Infrastructure Europe data showed. “Europe is right now helped by mild winter weather, but with storage levels at their lowest level in at least 15 years, the situation could change if demand picks up in case of a shift to colder conditions,” analysts at Mind Energy said. Some Qatari liquefied natural gas cargoes loaded from Ras Laffan reappeared outside the Strait of Hormuz over the weekend after transiting the waterway, but exports from the region remain low. “Although signs of increased Qatari exports have raised a lot of hope, the volumes are currently too low to have a real impact (on European LNG imports in particular),” analysts at Engie EnergyScan said. Overall gas supplies were stable, with Norwegian exports up 8 million cubic metres/day at 332 mcm/d and output from LNG terminals in northwest Europe little changed at 2,178 gigawatt hours/day, LSEG data showed. In the European carbon market, the benchmark contract was up €0.26 at €84.13 a metric ton. ($1 = 0.8906 euros) (Reporting by Susanna Twidale; Editing by Harikrishnan Nair) ((susanna.twidale@thomsonreuters.com)