EUROPE GAS - Prices stable amid ample supply and milder weather
The European and British gas contract prices were mostly unchanged on Friday, despite the milder weather forecast. Supplies from Norway and LNG are also steady. There is still uncertainty about future Russian gas supplies in the event of a peace agreement with Ukraine.
LSEG data shows that the benchmark front-month contract for the Dutch TTF hub fell 0.09 euros to 47.51 Euro per Megawatt Hour (MWh), which is $14.59/mmBtu at 0904 GMT.
The TTF contract for April was up by 0.13 euros at 47.85 Euro/MWh.
The British day-ahead contract increased by 0.25 pence to 112.75 pence a therm.
Analysts at Energi Danmark stated in a morning update that the market opened with a modest recovery, but sentiment could quickly change.
The market is waiting for more information about a possible peace agreement between Russia and Ukraine.
Analysts at Energy Aspects stated in a report that they believe there will be an agreement between Russia and Ukraine this year. However, we are sceptical about whether this will result in the return of Russian Gas to the market.
They added that Ukraine would likely remain opposed to Russia making money off hydrocarbon exports if there were no very strong guarantees of security, and NATO membership was unlikely to be achieved in the U.S. led negotiations.
Dan Jorgensen, energy commissioner for the European Union, said the EU would seek out more gas, including from the U.S., to replace Russian supplies and will expand renewable energy to reduce its overall dependence on fuel.
He added that the Commission is also working to tighten up controls on the gas market in order to prevent speculative trading from causing price spikes. Next week, it will propose "financial tools" to decouple power retail prices from high gas costs.
LSEG analyst Yuriy Onyshkiv says that a robust Norwegian LNG supply will likely stabilize the market within the next few months.
The benchmark carbon contract in Europe was 1.56 euros higher at 74.23 euro per metric ton. Nora Buli, reporting from Oslo; Sonia Cheema, editing)
(source: Reuters)
