* Tight system comes despite healthy LNG imports
Aug 8 (Reuters) - British prompt gas prices continued the week's trend by rising again on Wednesday morning as the gas system remained undersupplied despite unusually low demand.
Gas prices for next day delivery rose 1.25 pence per therm between Tuesday and Wednesday morning to 53.65 pence a therm, while within-day prices rose 0.55 pence to 53.60.
Analysts from Thomson Reuters Point Carbon said that the rises were a result of low British and Norwegian North Sea gas supplies.
"Continued low UK Continental shelf production and lower flows through Langeled and BBL (from Norway and the Netherlands) this morning give a bullish signal for day-ahead prices," Point Carbon said, and added that it expected day-ahead gas prices to range between 53.50 and 53.80 pence per therm.
The low North Sea flows meant that at an expected total of 159.3 million cubic metres (mcm), Wednesday's supplies were expected to be 11.2 mcm short of a demand of 170.5 mcm, according to data from National Grid..
The undersupplied system came despite daily demand being around 30 percent below the seasonal norm.
Point Carbon said that the price upside was limited by healthy import levels of liquefied natural gas (LNG).
"The LNG send outs are expected to remain high with several cargos currently headed for the UK."
Reuters data shows that there are around 680,000 cubic metres of LNG either moored or to arrive at British regasification terminals between now and August 12.
In the power market, prices for baseload (24 hours) delivery on Thursday rose 85 pence to 41.15 pounds per megawatt-hour between Tuesday and Wednesday morning.
The price rise came despite the 550 MW Dungeness B21 nuclear power station returning to the grid on Tuesday afternoon, and traders said that the rise was largely reflecting the tight gas market.
FORWARD GAS ALSO RISES
Further out on the curve, prices also rose, with gas contracts for delivery in winter 2012/2013 jumping above their 50 exponential daily moving average (DMA) value of 64.50 pence a therm for the firs time since April.
Trading around 64.60 pence per therm at 0820 GMT, the product also broke through a downward trend line that had been in place since March.
Traders said the the rises reflected this week's bullish sentiment in the spot gas market, and also stronger oil prices, to which the gas market has close links.
Front-month Brent crude oil prices were trading above $111 per barrel on Wednesday morning.
Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/08/08/markets-britain-gas-power-idUSL6E8J83S120120808
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