Monday, 16 March 2015 17:55
LONDON: Wholesale natural gas prices in Britain were slightly higher on Monday morning due to an undersupplied system.
Gas prices for within-day delivery were trading at 47.25 pence per therm at 0909 GMT, up 0.25 pence since their last settlement, while prices for day-ahead delivery were up 0.10 pence 47.30 pence per therm.
Supply flows were forecast at around 268 million cubic metres (mcm) on Monday and demand was around 281 mcm, 24 mcm above the seasonal norm of 257 mcm, National Grid data showed.
That meant the system was around 13 mcm undersupplied.
Thomson Reuters Point Carbon analysts said requests for gas withdrawals from storage sites were too low to balance the system on Monday morning.
Britain’s Hilltop gas storage facility has had its export and import capacity reduced, operator EDF Energy said at the weekend.
On the supply side, flows from the UK Continental Shelf and from Norway via the Langeled pipeline looked to be higher on Monday than on Friday, while flows from the Netherlands through the BBL pipeline were stable.
However, the UK Interconnector should switch to import mode on Monday, having been in export mode for the past two weeks.
Cooler temperatures are also expected in Britain next week, according to Point Carbon meterologists.
Further along the curve, gas for April delivery was up 0.15 pence at 46.70 pence per therm and the Summer 15 contract was 0.05 pence higher at 44.50 pence per therm.
In the Netherlands, the day-ahead gas price at the TTF hub was 0.25 euros higher at 21.75 euros per megawatt-hour (MWh), as gas consumption next week was expected to be higher than previously forecast.
The benchmark European Union carbon price dipped 0.08 euros to 6.43 euros a tonne on ICE Futures Europe.
Copyright Reuters, 2015
