EUROPE GAS-Prices mostly edge up on cooler weather; eyes on Red Sea conflict

LONDON, March 7 - Dutch and British wholesale gas prices mostly edged up on Thursday morning as the market closely watched developments in the Red Sea and as temperatures were forecast lower.

The benchmark Dutch TTF front-month contract was up 0.47 euros at 26.67 euros per megawatt hour (MWh) by 0952 GMT, LSEG data showed.

The day ahead contract was up 0.50 euros at 26.30 euros/MWh.

In Britain, the front-month contract inched up by 0.10 pence to 66.25 pence per therm. The day-ahead contract rose by 0.15 p at 67.40 p/therm.

"Attacks in the Red Sea area continue, which the market will watch with close interest, however it is thought energy-related cargoes have already diverted away from the area," consultancy Auxilione said in a morning note.

A Houthi missile attack killed three seafarers on a Red Sea merchant ship on Wednesday, U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) said, the first fatalities reported since the Iran-aligned Yemeni group began strikes against shipping in one of the world's busiest trade lanes.

LSEG data show a slight decrease in temperatures will lead to an increase of 134 gigawatt hour per day (GWh/d) of demand on the day-ahead and 29 GWh/d on the weekend.

Temperatures are then expected to increase during the weekend and into next week.

However, the market remains well-supplied and there was no risk of any gas shortage this heating season, with strong flows of pipeline gas from Norway and from liquefied natural gas (LNG) across the continent.

Europe's gas stores are currently 61.6% full, latest data from Gas Infrastructure Europe showed.

In the European carbon market, the benchmark contract was almost flat at 59.31 euros a metric ton. (Reporting by Marwa Rashad; editing by Nina Chestney)