Jan 21 (Reuters) – Dutch and British wholesale gas prices mostly rose on Tuesday morning, as withdrawals from gas storage sites and some uncertainty over liquefied natural gas (LNG) supply continued to provide support.
The benchmark front-month contract at the Dutch TTF hub inched up by 0.78 euro to 48.50 euros per megawatt hour (MWh), or $14.70/mmBtu, by 0914 GMT, according to LSEG data.
The Dutch contract for March was 0.93 euro higher at 48.58 euros/MWh, but the day-ahead contract was 0.12 euro lower at 49.48 euros/MWh.
In the British market, the front-month contract contract gained 2.00 pence to 123.50 pence per therm, while the day-ahead contract was up 1.00 pence at 130.00 p/therm.
Gas prices continue a move higher that started late on Monday, as strong demand pushed inventories lower, Daniel Hynes, senior commodity strategist and ANZ bank, said in a note.
Europe’s gas storages sites are 60.24% full, about 15 percentage points below their level a year ago, data from Gas Infrastructure Europe showed.
“There were also reports that Asian buyers may seek to purchase more U.S. LNG to appease the incoming President,” Hynes said, highlighting South Korea, Taiwan and Vietnam.
U.S. President Donald Trump took office on Monday and issued an order for the U.S. to resume processing export permit applications for new LNG projects which were halted by his predecessor Joe Biden.
“From a structural point of view, this is good news for Europe LNG imports,” analysts at Engie EnergyScan said in a morning report.
However, short-term factors such as an unusual cold spell in the southern U.S. may still cause disruption to LNG exports, they added.
Global natural gas markets will remain tight this year as demand rises and output grows more slowly, a quarterly report by the International Energy Agency (IEA) said on Tuesday.
In the European carbon market, the benchmark EU allowance (EUA) contract was down 0.30 euro at 79.69 euros per metric ton.
(Reporting by Nora Buli in Oslo; editing by Nina Chestney)
