European gas prices take a breather

Prospects of more comfortable supply with the return of some Norwegian production capacity and French regas capacity this week kept a lid on European gas prices on Monday after seven consecutive sessions of gains. A downward correction in Brent prices also filtered through the Asian spot LNG benchmark and the EU gas far curve which edged slightly lower as well. In China, coal future prices for delivery in August and September at the Zhengzhou exchange corrected downwards after a senior government official predicted that a rise in supply would weaken prices, a move which could dampen the bullish trend in international coal prices in the short term. Finally, Henry Hub prices stood apart and posted significant gains yesterday on the back of an historic heatwave in the Pacific Northwest leading to a peak in power demand for cooling purposes.