Prices rise as Norwegian maintenance ramps up
Aug 30 (Reuters) -Dutch and British wholesale gas prices lifted on Friday morning as a ramp up in maintenance in Norway is curbing supplies to Europe and Britain, with some outages extended and risks remain over Russian flows via Ukraine.
The benchmark front-month contract at the Dutch TTF hub TRNLTTFMc1 was up 0.47 euro at 39.45 euros per megawatt hour (MWh), or $12.75/mmBtu by 0843 GMT, according to LSEG data.
The Dutch day-ahead contract TRNLTTFD1 was up 0.63 euro at 39.43 euros/MWh.
In the British market, the front-month contract TRGBNBPMc1 was up by 1.85 pence at 94.25 pence per therm, and the day-ahead contract TRGBNBPD1 was up 2.90 pence at 94.00 pence per therm.
British prices are being lifted by reduced flows from Norway, analysts at Northern Gas and Power said in a morning briefing.
Norwegian gas infrastructure maintenance is entering peak season, with the Kaarstoe gas processing plant that has a daily capacity of 97.6 million cubic metres (mcm) offline until Sep. 20.
In addition, Norway's two other processing plants, Kollsnes and Nyhamna will also see curbs next week.
"The UK is currently expecting to take berth of three US LNG cargoes in September, with a combined regasification capacity of 316 million cubic metres, in a bid to fill the gap in supply instigated by the heavy maintenance period in Norway," Northern Gas and Power's analysts said.
Any potential disruptions to Russian gas transit via Ukraine into Europe remain a risk, especially after Ukraine's incursion into Russia triggered fierce attacks by Moscow on Ukraine, Daniel Hynes, senior commodity strategist at ANZ said.
"This raises the risk that energy infrastructure will be damaged," he added.
Gas continues to flow into Ukraine via the border point of Sudzha and Russia's Gazprom GAZP.MM said it would send 42.4 million cubic metres (mcm) of gas to Europe via Ukraine on Friday, unchanged from Thursday.
Offsetting some of the risk are European gas storages, which are 92% full, Gas Infrastructure Europe data showed.
In the European carbon market, the benchmark contract CFI2Zc1 inched down 0.09 euro to 70.97 euros a metric ton.
EXPLAINER-Is it the end for Russian gas supplies to Europe via Ukraine? nL8N3JZ0H0
EXPLAINER-What happens if Russian gas transit via Ukraine stops? nL8N3JV0SH
Norwegian gas infrastructure maintenance https://reut.rs/3YbV7ss
Reporting by Nora Buli in Oslo, editing by Susanna Twidale
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