Dutch and British wholesale gas prices on Thursday extended sharp losses from the previous day, responding to comments from Russian leaders who offered to increase supplies to help to stabilise the gas market.
* The November gas price at the Dutch TTF hub, a European benchmark, fell by 12.50 euros to 101.50 euros per megawatt hour by 0925 GMT. It earlier traded as low as 82.75 euros per megawatt hour
* On Wednesday, the price had swung as much as 55 euros, dropping from a record high of 155 euros per megawatt hour.
* Dutch day-ahead gas was down 4.20 euros at 96.10 euros per megawatt hour.
* The British day-ahead contract was down 1.50 pounds at 2.30 pounds per therm, after earlier trading as low as 2.15 pounds/therm.
* “Comments from Vladimir Putin appear to have provided some comfort to the market,” analysts at ING said in a morning note.
* The Russian president said Russia would be willing to help stabilise gas markets.
* “This, however, may depend on a quick approval of Nord Stream 2,” ING said.
* Work on the new pipeline running on the bed of the Baltic Sea from Russia to Germany, is completed but a German certification allowing it to operate is not expected for a few months.
* There might also be potential for further auctions of gas on the electronic sales platform Gazprom operates, a trader said.
* Another trader said there were different forces at play given the strong volatility, such as margin calls and stop outs forcing people to exit positions.
* There was also more liquefied natural gas (LNG) coming into northwest Europe now, he added.
* The benchmark Dec-21 EU carbon contract was up 0.30 euros at 59.42 euros per tonne.
* The benchmark Dec-21 British carbon contract was up 0.52 pounds at 61.00 pounds a tonne.
* European coal API2 coal futures for 2022 were down $56 at $126/tonne.
* From a fundamental perspective, the UK system was 20 million cubic metres (mcm) oversupplied on Thursday, National Grid data showed.
* In the UK, peak wind power output will drop from 7.5 GW on Thursday to 5.2 GW on Friday, Elexon data showed.
Source: Reuters (Reporting by Nora Buli in Oslo Editing by David Goodman and Jane Merriman)