Markets

UK GAS-Prices rise as outages spur buying

Published December 13, 2016 Updated December 13, 2016 06:47pm

LONDON: British wholesale gas prices rebounded on Tuesday afternoon after a series of outages were announced, which raised concerns about supply this week and prompted buying.

Gas for day-ahead delivery was up 0.60 pence at 45.00 pence per therm at 1403 GMT, while gas for weekend delivery was 0.75 pence higher at 44.95 p/therm.

Prices were in decline early on Tuesday due to oversupply but a series of outages at the Netherlands' Bergermeer storage site, Britain's Hornsea storage facility and Norway's Troll gas field had prompted buying, traders said.

Temperatures are also forecast to fall by 4-5 degrees Celsius by the weekend, which will increase demand for gas for heating.

Oil prices also rose, supported by strong demand in Asia and supply cuts by Abu Dhabi, Kuwait and Qatar as part of production curbs organised by OPEC and other exporters. However, gas for immediate delivery was still lower, down 0.25 pence at 44.70 pence per therm due to oversupply in the market on Tuesday.

In the Netherlands, the day-ahead gas price at the TTF hub inched up by 0.35 euro to 17.55 euros per MWh. In the European carbon market, the benchmark Dec. 16 contract was flat at 4.87 euros a tonne.

Copyright Reuters, 2016