EUROPE GAS-Prices drop on milder temperatures
The Dutch and British wholesale prices of gas fell on Tuesday morning, as the warmer weather forecasts this week reduced heating demand. However, concerns about the Ukraine-Russian conflict still persist.
According to LSEG, the benchmark front-month contract for the Dutch TTF Hub was lower by 1.19 euros, at 44.12 Euros per megawatt hour, or $13.59/mmBtu at 0925 GMT.
The Dutch May contract is down 1,61 euros, at 43.85 Euros/MWh.
The day-ahead contract in the British market was down 4.10 pennies at 104.80 pence/therm.
LSEG data indicated that temperatures are expected to increase by 4 degrees Celsius over seasonal norms until the weekend before dropping below normal.
Oleh Skrynyk, LSEG analyst, predicts that the total demand in North-West Europe will drop by 506 gigawatt hours per day (GWh/d).
We expect today's prices to remain flat due to the warmer temperatures expected until the end the week, and the possibility of storage being relaxed. The colder weather forecast early next week, compared with the previous run, introduces bullish risks and uncertainty to market," Skrynyk stated.
The tensions between the United States of America and Ukraine remain. President Trump touched on this topic in a press briefing last night, when he was discussing an unrelated deal. Auxilione, a consultancy, said that shortly after the press conference, he announced an immediate end to U.S. assistance for Ukraine.
The markets will be very sensitive to any comments made on this subject. Europe has become reliant upon the U.S. as its main energy partner. It will be important to ensure that President Trump remains on board with any steps Europe takes to negotiate a peaceful deal regarding Ukraine," Auxilione analyst added.
The benchmark contract on the European carbon markets was down by 1.85 euros at 69.7 euro per metric ton. (Reporting by Marwa Rashad, editing by Nina Chestney.)
(source: Reuters)
