The NBP spot market remained on the tight side Friday on the back of a short system, a result of Norwegian volumes being diverted to German terminals, while a degree of relief emerged as the specter of a Norwegian strike faded.
Within-day, weekend and day-ahead contracts were assessed at 42.10 pence/therm, 41.50 p/th and 42.25 p/th, respectively, at 11 am UK time, compared with the day-ahead price assessed at Thursday's close at 40.50 p/th.
The UK system was short a hefty 9 million cu m/d according to National Grid's morning forecast, the main factor behind the bullish spot.
Norwegian imports clocked 92 million cu m/d at 11 am, down 8 million cu m/d from Thursday morning. Meanwhile, Gassco data showed, volumes to German terminals were ramped up some 6 million cu m/d.
Two new outages on the NCS, namely at Karsto and Kollsnes gas hubs, were reported Friday morning, affecting 10 million cu m/d and 20.50 million cu m/d of capacity, respectively, although no day-ahead impact is reported.
Also in Norway, negotiations between the Norwegian Oil and Gas Association, an employers' organization, and the SAFE union representing offshore workers, were concluded overnight, eliminating the threat of a strike that would have taken Shell's Nyhamna terminal out of action for an undetermined duration.
No drastic changes were seen in the demand side, with LDZ segment nominated at 113 million cu m/d at 11 am, compared with the average of 115 million cu m/d Thursday.
LDZ demand was forecast at 94-102 million cu m/d over the weekend, rising to 114 million cu m/d Monday, according to Platts Analytics' Eclipse Energy data, on the back of lower-than-average temperatures.
