EUROPE GAS-Prices maintain firmer levels as market eyes Norway supply

Aug 22 (Reuters) - Dutch and British wholesale gas prices on Friday morning steadied around firmer levels reached in the previous session, as attention turns to upcoming heavy maintenance in Norway and gas storage filling needs before the winter.

The benchmark Dutch front-month contract at the TTF hub TRNLTTFMc1 was up 0.34 euro at 33.54 euros per megawatt hour, or $1.40 per mmBtu, at 0820 GMT, LSEG data showed.

The British front-month contract TRGBNBPMc1 traded up 0.74 pence at 83.35 pence per therm, while the day ahead price TRGBNBPD1 was up 0.05 pence at 82.75 pence per therm.

Prices should stabilise and potentially rise slightly ahead of the start of Norwegian gas infrastructure maintenance next week, Wayne Bryan, gas research principal at LSEG said in a weekly note.

LSEG forecast prices next week to average between 33 and 34 euros/MWh for the TTF and between 80 and 82 p/th for the NBP.

"The main risk to this outlook is any unexpected extensions or outages beyond the current maintenance schedule," Bryan said.

Nominations for Norwegian gas flows to Europe were down from at 316 million cubic metres per day to 308 mcm/day, data from infrastructure operator Gassco showed.

Planned maintenance at several key fields and plants will curb Norwegian flows by around 110 mcm/day for much of September, according to the data.

Meanwhile, EU gas storage sites were last seen 74.8% full, Gas Infrastructure Europe data showed.

This level lags the five-year average of 82% and last year's level of 91%, analysts at ING said in a morning note.

European prices will, therefore, need to remain competitive relative to Asia to ensure enough liquefied natural gas (LNG) heads to Europe ahead of the next heating season, but deliveries have been trending lower since peaking in June, they added.

In the European carbon market, the benchmark contract CFI2Zc1 was up 0.13 euro at 72.75 euros per metric ton.