The UK gas market was short of supply during the morning Wednesday with demand above seasonal norms as the country stepped up exports to the Continent.
At 11:00 am London time, the UK NBP within-day contract was valued at 44.20 pence/therm, up by 0.60 p/th from Tuesday's close, while the day-ahead contract fell slightly, by 0.15 p/th to 43.75 p/th.
System operator National Grid pegged demand for the day at 11:00 am at 212 million cubic meters, which is 20 million cu m above seasonal norms and flows were falling short at 182 million cu m. The demand level is an increase from Tuesday which was at 198 million cu m.
Exports from Britain to Belgium across the UK's only export route, the bi-directional Interconnector pipeline, rose from 27 million cu m Tuesday to a nominated amount of 36 million cu m Wednesday.
The pipeline is planned to be closed for annual maintenance June 11-26.
Flows into the country, meanwhile, were down on day. Around 53 million cu m was piped into the UK Tuesday and it's expected to total 44 million cu m Wednesday, Platts unit Bentek Energy said.
An additional Norwegian maintenance work, which could further reduce piped gas into the UK, is scheduled to begin Thursday with a volume impact of up to 35 million cu m/day for two days.
LNG sendout remains high, edging up from 48 million cu m to 49 million cu m as the UK receives a steady flow of LNG tankers, Bentek showed.
Upcoming tanker deliveries to South Hook include the Aamira on May 28, the Al Shamal on May 30, and the Al Ghuwairiya on June 1.
The front-month June contract, meantime, continued falling. It was down from 42.75 p/th at 42.20 p/th.
Trading on the Winter 14 contract appeared to be thin with the contract valued at about 61.15 p/th, up slightly from Tuesday's close of 61.00 p/th.
