The price of EUROPE GAS has increased by nearly 5% due to the cold weather forecast and supply from Norway

On Wednesday afternoon, Dutch and British wholesale prices for gas rose by nearly 5% due to colder weather forecasts and ongoing power outages in Norway. There was also concern about re-filling storage tanks in the summer.

LSEG data shows that the benchmark front-month contract for the Dutch TTF hub rose 2.16 euros to 50.38 euros per Megawatt Hour (MWh), which is $15.35 mmBtu by 1440 GMT after briefly reaching 50.70 euros/MWh.

Ole S Hansen said that the Norwegian pipeline gas outages have caused prices to rise. Stockpiles are now 55.4% full compared to last year's 72%, he explained.

The Dutch day-ahead contracts was up 2,50 euros to 50,40 euros/MWh.

The day-ahead contract in Britain rose 6.50 pence, to 128.70p/therm. The front-month contract rose by 5.99 pence to 127.50p/therm.

Georg Muller, LSEG's meteorologist, said that the latest weather models confirmed that it will be cold and dry in the first half February.

The supply of oil to Europe will be limited by outages in Norway's Gullfaks and Troll fields.

LSEG data shows that Norwegian natural gas flows to Europe on Wednesday totaled 313 million cubic meters (mcm), a decrease of 5 mcm from the previous day. However, the flow to Britain increased by 5 mcm.

LSEG analysts say that the withdrawal of gas from European storage sites was slowed down by the milder and windier weather. However, they expect it to increase in coming days.

Former head of transit operator, warned Wednesday that the volume of gas stored in Ukraine's facilities is now nearing the 10% critical mark. The country must import significant quantities to meet its demands.

The benchmark contract on the European carbon markets was up by 2.44 euros, at 82.70 euro per metric ton.

(source: Reuters)