LONDON, Aug 1 (Reuters) - British prompt gas prices eased slightly on Wednesday morning as the system was oversupplied at a time of low demand.
The day-ahead gas price fell by 0.2 pence a therm to 53.40 pence between Tuesday and Wednesday morning, while within-day gas deliveries were trading at 53.10 pence per therm.
Traders said that the price fall was a result of an oversupplied system that had seen rising imports of liquefied natural gas (LNG).
"The system has opened long. LNG send outs have increased substantially today and could remain high for day-ahead as there are two more cargoes heading to South Hook, giving a bearish signal for the day-ahead gas contract," analysts at Point Carbon said.
Gas demand in Britain was expected to be 167.9 million cubic metres (mcm) on Wednesday, 30 percent below the seasonal norm, according to National Grid data.
With expected gas flows of 180.7 mcm, the system would be almost 13 mcm oversupplied.
Point Carbon said that some price support could come from some North Sea maintenance works as well as from exports to continental Europe, adding that it expected day-ahead gas prices to trade in a range of between 53.60 and 54 pence per therm.
In the power market, the contract for baseload (24 hours) delivery the next day was trading at 40.60 pounds per megawatt-hour, almost unchanged from Tuesday morning.
The UK's MetOffice said that Britain's weather outlook for the coming days remained unsettled, with sunny and rainy spells expected along with generally windy conditions and maximum temperatures just above 20 degrees Celsius.
Further out on the price curve, however, sentiment was more bullish, with the winter 2012/2013 gas contract trading at 63.50 pence per therm, up 0.75 pence since Tuesday, testing a long-term downward trend line that has been in place since late March. (Reporting by Henning Gloystein; Editing by Anthony Barker)
