EUROPE GAS-Prices little changed on weak demand, Norwegian outages

LONDON, Aug 27 (Reuters) - Dutch and British wholesale gas prices were little changed early on Wednesday as strong wind power output limited demand and offset lower supply from Norway.

The benchmark Dutch front-month contract at the TTF hub TRNLTTFMc1 was down 0.08 euro at 33.17 euros per megawatt hour, or $11.27/mmBtu, by 0820 GMT, LSEG data showed.

The Dutch day-ahead contract TRNLTTFD1 was up 0.02 euro at 33.22 euros/MWh, LSEG data showed.

The British front-month gas price NGLNMU5 was down 1.07 pence at 82.06 pence per therm, ICE data showed.

“The total day-ahead demand outlook (for Britain) is again slightly bearish, as gas for power demand is expected down 7 million cubic metres/day due to a slightly higher wind power forecast and increases in nuclear availability,” LSEG analyst Saku Jussila said in a daily research note.

British peak wind power generation was expected at 12.5 gigawatts on Wednesday, rising to 13 GW on Thursday, Elexon data showed.

Total exports from Norway were down 18 million cubic metres due to planned maintenance at the Ormen Lange gas field.

“This (Norwegian maintenance) is however not enough to cause any noteworthy volatility on a market, which is rather calm right now after a summer which has seen storage levels in Europe increase noticeably,” analysts at Mind Energy said in a daily market note.

Local distribution zone gas demand in Northwest Europe, which includes demand from power plants, was forecast at 582 gigawatt hours/day for the day-ahead, down 73 GWh/d from the previous day, LSEG data showed.

In the European carbon market, the benchmark contract CFI2Zc1 was up 0.21 euro at 72.96 euros a metric ton.