Dutch wholesale gas prices rose on Tuesday morning as Europe grappled with low flows of gas from Russia and British near-term prices were lifted by lower supply from Norway.
The Dutch July contract TRNLTTFMc1 was up 2.60 euros at 126.00 euros per megawatt hour (MWh) by 0907 GMT. The day-ahead contract TRNLTTFD1 was up 2.50 euros at 125.00 /MWh.
Flows of gas from Russia through the Nord Stream 1 pipeline and via Ukraine were steady on Tuesday, but remain significantly lower than early last week after Russian gas supplier Gazprom curbed the capacity of Nord Stream to just 40% .
Gazprom said the move was necessary due to the delayed return of equipment being serviced by Germany’s Siemens Energy SIEGn.DE in Canada, but some European leaders have questioned whether the cut in flows is politically motivated rather than a technical issue.
The cuts have raised questions over Europe’s ability to refill its gas stocks ahead of winter.
“This has not yet resulted in restocking of gas in Germany and the EU coming to a standstill, however. Current filling levels are 58% in Germany and just shy of 55% in the EU,” analysts at Commerzbank said.
The recent cuts have also led to speculation over what will happen when the pipeline undergoes regular annual maintenance from July 11 to July 21.
“Speculations regarding… further decline in NS flows well beyond its full capacity maintenance in mid-July are expected to continue supporting bullish sentiment on the market,” analysts at Refinitiv said in a daily research note.
The British day-ahead contract TRGBNBPD1 rose by 15.00 pence to 180.00 pence per therm, and the within-day contract TRGBNBPWKD was up 26.00 pence at 175.00 p/therm.
Flows from Norway to Britain via the Langeled pipeline were at 36 million cubic metres a y on Tuesday, down 23 mcm from the previous day, Refinitiv Eikon data showed.
Exports from Norway were reduced due to maintenance at some major infrastructure.
In the European carbon market, the benchmark contract CFI2Zc1 rose by 0.85 euros to 84.85 euros a tonne.
