Prices rise amid cold weather, Ukraine transit deal uncertainty
LONDON, Sept 20 (Reuters) -Dutch and British wholesale gas prices rose early on Friday, trading in a narrow range, amid cold weather forecasts and after a Ukrainian news outlet backed away from its report that Ukraine had agreed to transit Azerbaijani gas to Europe.
The benchmark front-month contract TRNLTTFMc1 at the Dutch TTF hub was up 1.00 euro at 34.33 euros per megawatt hour (MWH), or $11.23 mmBtu, by 0908 GMT, LSEG data showed.
In the British market, the day-ahead contract TRGBNBPD1 rose by 2.50 pence to 88.85 pence per therm.
Prices fell on Thursday afternoon after Ukrainian news outlet, Ukrainska Pravda, reported that Ukraine has agreed to transit Azerbaijani gas to Europe as a temporary measure after it ends a transit deal with Russia.
However, the outlet backed away from its report and two Azerbaijani energy sources also said the report was incorrect.
"The situation remains extremely unclear, as the news have not been backed by any official source from Ukrainian neither from the Azerbaijani side," said LSEG analyst Saku Jussila.
The supply of gas from Russia to Europe via Ukraine remained steady and Russia's Gazprom GAZP.MM said it would send 42.4 million cubic metres (mcm) of gas to Europe via Ukraine on Friday, compared to 42.3 (mcm) on the previous day.
LSEG data shows the cold snap between Sept. 26 and Sept. 30 has intensified in the latest forecasts, with the coldest days being more than 3 degrees below the seasonal norm, raising heating demand by 8 million cubic metres per day (mcm/d) in the day ahead.
Norwegian maintenance at Nyhamna and Kollsnes was extended by one day on Thursday evening, supporting the price rise.
"Looking at short-term fundamentals, the situation tightened a bit as the Norwegian maintenance planning has been updated overnight with additional work that will slow down the production ramp-up in the coming days," analysts at Engie's EnergyScan said in a morning note.
European gas storage was last seen at 93.45% full, Gas Infrastructure Europe (GIE) data showed.
In the European carbon market, the benchmark contract CFI2Zc1 was 0.94 euro higher at 63.79 euros per metric ton.
Norwegian gas infrastructure maintenance Norwegian gas infrastructure maintenance https://reut.rs/4fO4kxi
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
Reporting By Marwa Rashad; Editing by David Evans
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