UK gas prices firm despite below average demand

* Day-ahead gas price at 56.40 p/th

* System seen 3.7 mcm/d long

* Demand 35 pct below seasonal norm

LONDON, Aug 28 (Reuters) - British wholesale gas prices were firm on Tuesday morning (NasdaqGS: TUES - news) as the system was tight despite demand being almost 35 percent below the seasonal norm.

Gas prices for delivery on Wednesday as well as within-day delivery were trading around 56.40 pence per therm at 0800 GMT on Tuesday, up from below 56 pence late last week.

Gas demand was expected to be 159.4 million cubic metres (mcm) on Tuesday, almost 35 percent below the seasonal norm, according to National Grid (LSE: NG.L - news) data.

Despite the low demand the system was tight, with demand seen around 163.1 mcm, and analysts said that rising demand in the middle of the week could create a short system.

"Consumption is forecasted slightly up for day-ahead," analysts at Thomson Reuters Point Carbon said, adding that they expected prices to range between 56.30 and 56.60 pence per therm.

Some relief could come from Norwegian supplies, which were rising on Tuesday after the Ormen Lange gas field began ramping up production following an outage.

Imports of liquefied natural gas (LNG) into Britain were expected to be around 428,000 cubic metres between now and September 4, coming from two Qatari LNG tankers.

The UK's MetOffice said that it expected weather conditions to be rainy in the next two days, with maximum daytime temperatures around 20 degrees Celsius. (Reporting by Henning Gloystein; editing by Jason Neely)

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