LONDON: British prompt gas prices fell slightly on Thursday as ample supplies and mild weather reduced price volatility and trading activity.
Gas for day-ahead delivery fell 0.55 pence to 66.25 pence per therm while gas for instant delivery fell 0.85 pence to 66.50 pence.
Gas flows through the Langeled pipeline from Norway to Britain dropped slightly to 24 million cubic metres (mcm/day), while flows from the Netherlands ramped up to 18 mcm from zero overnight.
The transmission network was oversupplied by 7 mcm/day with demand estimated at 137 mcm/day. Temperatures in south-east England were forecast at around 23 degrees Celsius, or slightly below, for the rest of the week.
Britain was expected to export around 4 mcm/day to mainland Europe, according to analysts at Thomson Reuters Point Carbon.
"The system opened 14 mcm/d oversupplied this morning, which is bearish for UK gas prompt contracts," the analysts wrote.
"Prices are off just a little bit from yesterday levels... nothing's going on," one trader said.
This week, North Sea maintenance has helped keep prices firm, at some points leaving the system tight at a time when utilities are trying to refill their storage facilities.
Maintenance at Forties Charlie and Unity Riser ended on Tuesday but there has been no increase in flows to St. Fergus terminals so far, Point Carbon said.
Further along the curve, gas for season-ahead delivery was unchanged at 71.40 pence per therm.
In Britain's power market, prices for baseload (24 hours) delivery the next day fell two pounds to 46.25 pounds per megawatt-hour (MWh) from the previous close.
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