UK GAS-Prices tick up amid Norwegian strike, colder weather forecast

LONDON: British wholesale gas prices mainly edged up on Thursday morning, supported by ongoing strikes in Norway, as well as expectations of colder weather.

The within-day contract was up 0.15 pence at 37.65 pence per therm by 0837 GMT.

The working days next week contract rose by 0.30 p to 38.20 p/therm.

Support for prices came from ongoing strikes in Norway, a hurricane in the Gulf of Mexico and expectations of colder weather next week, traders said.

Six offshore oil and gas fields in Norway shut down on Monday, with Norway's Lederne union saying on Thursday it had hoped a solution could be found before workers escalate their strike on Oct. 10.

But Norwegian flows to Britain were little changed at around 84 million cubic metres (mcm), compared to 86 mcm on Wednesday, Gassco data showed.

UK gas market was over-supplied, which was due to weak power sector demand and strong wind generation, Refinitiv analysts said in a morning note.

Britain's gas system was 29 mcm over-supplied, with demand forecast at 195.2 mcm and supply at 224.2 mcm/day, National Grid data showed.

Temperatures in Britain are forecast to rise to 12 degrees Celsius on Friday before slumping below the seasonal norm for around seven days, Refintiv analysts said in a morning note.

On Wednesday, US natural gas futures gained over 3pc as producers shut Gulf of Mexico wells ahead of Hurricane Delta.

Peak wind power generation was forecast at 8.4 gigawatts (GW) on Thursday and 9.7 GW on Friday, Elexon data showed.

On the curve, prices also rose.

The day-ahead contract fell by 0.25 p to 37.75 p/therm.

The November contract was up 0.10 p at 38.85 p/therm.

The day-ahead gas price at the Dutch TTF hub was down 0.20 euro to 13.35 euros per megawatt hour.

The benchmark Dec-20 EU carbon contract was down 0.39 euro at 26.51 euros per tonne.