Prices for gas in Europe are mixed due to the Norwegian gas outage and forecast warmer weather.

The Dutch and British wholesale prices of gas were mixed on Wednesday morning as a supply interruption in Norway reduced availability, but milder temperatures predicted towards the end the month should increase the availability.

LSEG data indicated that the benchmark front-month contract for the Dutch TTF hub had increased by 1.15 euros to 47.50 Euros per Megawatt Hour (MWh) or $14.37 /mmbtu at 0912 GMT.

The Dutch March contract is down by 0.03 euros at 47.40 Euros/MWh.

The month-ahead contract in Britain fell by 1.2 pence, to 117.7p/therm.

Gassco, a Norwegian company, updated its plans for the Kollsnes plant late Tuesday night. The maintenance is expected to last through January 11.

Saku Jussila, LSEG analyst, said: "We expect that the slightly bullish mood will continue today... Any updates on the Kollsnes UMM market update will move the markets in either direction."

The prices have fallen over the past week, after reaching a 14-month peak of over 50 euros/MWh in early January.

Analysts at Energi Danmark stated in a daily report that there was a general feeling that the huge increases during Christmas and New Years were exaggerated.

The supply situation remains comfortable, even though the storage levels aren't quite as high as they were in the past couple of years.

Gas Infrastructure Europe reported that Europe's gas storage is 69.34% filled.

LSEG's Georg Muller, a meteorologist, said that temperatures will be close to or slightly above average from the weekend.

The benchmark contract on the European carbon markets was down by 0.54 euros at 73.52 euro per metric ton.

(source: Reuters)