British prompt natural gas prices were mixed on Monday as within-day prices fell on mild weather, low gas demand and strong Norwegian flows while day-ahead prices rose on colder forecasts. Within-day gas was down 5.00 pence at 53.00 p/therm Day-ahead gas was up 1.75 pence at 59.25 pence per therm at 0945 GMT. Within-day prices fell on mild weather and a supply surplus, while day-ahead rose on expectations for colder weather the following day, a British gas trader said.

Average daily temperatures in Britain are expected to be 8.4 degrees Celsius on Monday, but are expected to fall to 2.7 C on Tuesday. The system was oversupplied with demand in Britain forecast at 237.9 million cubic metres (mcm) per day and flows at 274.5 mcm/day, National Grid data showed. Norwegian gas flows to Britain were strong at 123 mcm/day versus 119 mcm/day on Friday

One liquefied natural gas tanker arrived in Britain on Sunday and one more is expected on January 17. Power from renewable sources was strong with peak wind generation forecast at 9.6 gigawatts (GW) on Monday out of a total capacity of more than 12 GW and is expected to rise to 9.7 GW on Tuesday.

High output from wind turbines typically decreases demand for electricity generated in gas-fired power stations. Jan contract fell 0.45 pence to 62.25 p/therm. Day-ahead Dutch gas at the TTF hub rose by 0.08 euro to 22.10 euros per megawatt hour. The benchmark Dec-19 EU carbon contract rose by 0.27 euro to 25.25 euros per tonne.

Copyright Reuters, 2019