Prices of gas in Europe are lower than the first session for a second session. Ukraine Peace prospects dominate

The wholesale gas price in the Netherlands and Britain continued to fall on Thursday, after reaching a two-year peak on Tuesday. Market participants were watching for any further developments regarding the efforts of U.S. president Donald Trump to bring an end to the conflict in Ukraine.

LSEG data shows that the benchmark front-month contract for the Dutch TTF Hub was lower by 2.85 euros, or $16.21/mmBtu at 1003 GMT.

The contract was well below the intra-day peak of 59.27 euro/MWh, reached on Tuesday. This is its highest level since Febuary 2023.

The Dutch April contract is down by 2.99 Euros at 52.93 euro/MWh.

The front-month contract in Britain was down 3.76 pennies at 129.09 pence per therm.

Klaas Dizeman, a market analyst with Brainchild Commodity Intelligence, says that the unilateral peace talks initiated by President Trump yesterday will bring relief to the markets, as they reduces disruptions of a large scale.

Dozeman said that it was unclear, however, what role gas could play in future scenarios.

Donald Trump, the U.S. president, spoke directly with Vladimir Putin, the Russian president. He announced that negotiations had begun.

A trading source reported that the price pressure was further exacerbated by the fact that several EU members states were pushing to reduce their gas storage goals, and also because of the possibility of warmer weather.

Gas Infrastructure Europe's data shows that EU gas storage facilities are now 47.24% full, after cold weather conditions and reduced Russian supplies caused a quicker drawdown.

It is becoming more likely that the cold weather in Western Europe will stop after February 19. Dozeman stated that a mix between spring and autumn with temperatures above normal and plenty of sun or wind will dominate the continent.

The benchmark contract on the European carbon markets was down 1.52 euros, at 81.07 euro per metric ton. (Reporting by Marwa Rashed Editing by David Goodman.)

(source: Reuters)