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EURO GAS: Curve bounces back up after post-Easter slump

https://www.chemnet.com   Apr 28,2011 Platts
Forward curve contracts at European gas trading hubs bounced back up midday Wednesday, as traders said that a rise in oil prices allowed the curve to recover from a post Easter slump.

The Dutch TTF front month contract rose 50 euro cent from the previous day's close, trading at Eur22.35/MWh by midday Wednesday.

The TTF cal 12 contract heard a similar rise of 45 euro cent on the day, settling at Eur26.45/MWh by lunchtime.

"The European forward curve is up Wednesday, which might be a reaction to Tuesday's strong drops and motivated by favorable upward-looking fundamentals," a trader said. "This could signal a recovery in curve prices in the following days."

Front month Brent crude traded midday Wednesday at $124.50/b, about $0.40 higher than Tuesday's closing price.

European prompt contracts remained stable Wednesday morning, with day-ahead contracts trading fairly flat to each other as well. The Dutch TTF day-ahead traded at Eur21.40/MWh, 10 euro cent higher than Tuesday's close.

The day-ahead contracts at the two German trading hubs NetConnect and GASPOOL both traded midday Wednesday at Eur21.55/MWh, a 5 and 10 euro cent gain on the day respectively.

The French PEG Nord day-ahead remained flat to the previous day's close, trading at 1200 London time at Eur21.50/MWh.

The weather around Europe has remained warm but fairly stable Wednesday, as most major European countries are forecast close to seasonal temperatures, weather service CustomWeather showed.

Amsterdam is a degree Celsius higher than its seasonal norm of 7-16 degrees C Wednesday, while Paris is also a degree above its normal seasonal temperatures of 9-18 degrees C. Berlin is expecting the warmest weather Wednesday at 3 degrees above its seasonal average of 6-17 degrees C.

As the week progresses, temperatures for most of Europe will rise to 4 degrees Celsius above seasonal norms by Friday, except Paris which will see unseasonal drops of 4 degrees Celsius below the norm on Thursday.


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