EUROPE GAS-Prices mixed on strong inventories, supply risks
LONDON, Aug 16 (Reuters) - Dutch and British gas wholesale prices were mixed on Friday morning as strong storage inventories helped ease fears of potential supply disruptions due to the war between Russia and Ukraine as well as tensions in the Middle East.
The benchmark front-month contract at the Dutch TTF hub inched up by 0.55 euro to 38.55 euros per megawatt hour (MWh), or 12.64 $/mmBtu, by 0903 GMT, LSEG data showed.
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The October contract was 0.25 euro lower at 39.30 euros/MWh.
Both contracts remain at levels not seen since December last year.
In the British market, the day-ahead contract rose by 1.5 pence to 79.5 pence per therm.
"Full stocks ...are on the bearish side (for the market), creating the possibility of a stronger price drop," LSEG analyst Tomasz Marcin Kowalski said in a morning note.
European gas storages were last seen 88.47% full, close to their 90% target which should be achieved by Nov. 1, Gas Infrastructure Europe data showed.
However, the market is still closely monitoring the geopolitical tension in the Middle East and as Ukraine advances further into Russian territories, raising the risk of disruptions to Russian pipeline flows into Europe.
The gas is still flowing, and Russia's Gazprom said it would send 42.4 million cubic metres (mcm) of gas to Europe via Ukraine on Friday.
Ukraine has chalked up a string of victories more than a week since blindsiding Russia with a lightning cross-border assault, but the risks are piling up as its troops make plans to hold territory and Russia recovers its footing.
"Continued escalations around the Ukraine-Russia border will be injecting some concerns, although they have been around for some time now, but markets will continue to react to any news as it holds an underlying nervousness," consultancy Auxilione said in a note.
In the European carbon market, the benchmark contract rose by 0.05 euro to 72.16 euros a metric ton.
(Reporting by Marwa Rashad; editing by Emelia Sithole-Matarise)