Dutch and British wholesale gas prices were range bound on Friday morning amid a lack of fundamental news and sufficient supply.
The benchmark Dutch front-month contract eased by €0.20 to €33.45 per MWh, while the June contract was up by €0.30 to €33.63 per MWh, according to LSEG data.
The UK front-month contract fell by 0.76 pence to 80.84 pence per therm, while the day-ahead contract was down 0.81 pence at 81 pence per therm.
"We expect another day of sideways trading today in lack of any major fundamental movers or news," LSEG analyst Saku Jussila said in Friday morning’s report.
Meanwhile, the UK could increase exports to continental Europe amid a looser balance in the system, widening its price discount to Europe, he added.
Dry and sunny weather will dominate with temperatures rising to above normal in continental Europe and the UK until around 5th May, LSEG meteorologist, Georg Mueller said.
Europe's gas storage sites have started filling after the winter season but at 37.7% full remain some 24% below the same period last year, data from Gas Infrastructure Europe (GIE) showed.
Asia price rise
Elsewhere, Asian spot LNG prices rose slightly amid production outages in Europe and Asia.
The average LNG prices for June delivery into northeast Asia was at $11.80 per MMBtu, sources estimated, up from $11.50 per MMBtu the week before, which was the lowest level recorded since May last year.
Indian and Chinese buyers took a back seat, as prices quoted were above $11.90 per MMBtu, said Argus’ head of pricing, Martin Senior, talking with Reuters, adding that South Korea was the main Asian spot buyer.
The supply side remained healthy, despite outages at Petronas’ Bintulu LNG plant, said Siamak Adibi, FGE Director for gas and LNG analytics.
Equinor's Hammerfest export plant also went offline last Tuesday for planned maintenance, which is scheduled to last until 19th July.
Venture Global’s Plaquemines’ exports have reached 1 mill tonnes per month, while bp loaded the first LNG from the Greater Tortue Ahmeyim project offshore Mauritania and Senegal, Adibi said.
He added that LNG Canada was expected to start up in the middle of this year, as is an increase in Cheniere’s Corpus Christi supply.
In Europe, S&P Commodity Insights assesssed its daily North West Europe LNG Marker price benchmark for June cargo deliveries on an ex-ship basis (DES) at $10.40 per MMBtu last Thursday, a $0.70 discount to the TTF marker.
Speaking about European storage refilling, Florence Schmit, Rabobank London’s Energy Strategist, said: “The winter premiums to summer contracts was still only trading at around €0.50 per MWh, which was not enough to incentivise full injections.
“What’s more, the EU’s Russian fuel phase out roadmap promises to squash any expectations of returning Russian pipeline supplies, driving European buyers further towards seaborne imports,“ she said, also talking with Reuters.
By last Friday, Atlantic LNGC freight rates had firmed to $35,750 per day, but Pacific levels softened to $22,250, said Spark Commodities’ analyst, Qasim Afghan.
