Gas prices on the Dutch and German trading hubs drifted lower Tuesday morning, as bearish weather and supply fundamentals from just before the four-day Easter holiday continued to drive the markets.
At midday London time, the day-ahead contract on the Dutch TTF was seen at Eur20.40/MWh, having been pegged Thursday at Eur20.60/MWh.
May on the TTF was also down from Thursday's assessment, shedding 25 euro cent to Eur20.60/MWh.
On the neighboring German hubs, gas for next-day delivery was seen at Eur20.90/MWh on the NetConnect and Eur20.85/MWh on the GASPOOL, down from Eur21.25/MWh and Eur21.20/MWh respectively.
Norwegian gas exports to Germany and the Netherlands via Dornum and Emden on the Dutch-German border continued at strong rates, seen at noon London time at 143.5 million cubic meters/day.
According to Platts unit Bentek Energy, westbound Russian flows remained unaffected by the ongoing Ukraine crisis, with 107 million cu m nominated to flow through Ukraine to the Velke Kapusany entry point in Slovakia.
Temperatures in Germany and the Benelux region were forecast to stay warmer than normal in the coming days, with CustomWeather predicting 18 degrees Celsius in Amsterdam on Wednesday, 23 C in Berlin, 19 C in Frankfurt and 18 C in Munich, which should weigh on demand.
Later dated gas contracts on the TTF were also lower, with Q3 14 shedding 40 euro cent to Eur21.00/MWh and Winter 14 down 30 euro cent to Eur24.90/MWh.
