European Gas Futures Edge Lower on Warm Weather Forecast

(Bloomberg) -- European gas prices extended declines on Tuesday as mild weather at the end of the year eased supply concerns and buoyed stockpiles.

Dutch front-month gas fell as much as 3.6% after plunging last week as temperatures are expected to stay above the norm across northwest Europe well into the new year. Plentiful supplies of liquefied natural gas, above average inventories and a typical year-end slowdown in industrial demand are also pushing down the benchmark for the region. 

The warmer weather coupled with higher wind power generation allowed Germany to store gas over the past five days, BNetzA President Klaus Mueller said in a tweet. That’s good news for security of supply for next year, he added. 

European gas storage levels ticked up over the weekend from 82.9% full to 83.1% as the mild weather allowed countries to stow away the excess.

Lower European futures are also helping to ease pressure on Asian liquefied natural gas prices. Meanwhile, traders are closely watching for signs of disruption to LNG flows from the US, Europe’s top supplier, after a fierce winter storm gripped parts of the country.

Dutch front-month gas dropped 0.8% to €82.34 a megawatt-hour at 10:38 a.m. in Amsterdam. It plunged almost 30% last week.

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