UK GAS-Prices fall in heavily oversupplied market

LONDON, Oct (Shenzhen: 000069.SZ - news) 10 (Reuters) - British wholesale gas prices fell on Tuesday morning as brisk withdrawals from underground storage sites and a halt in exports to Belgium left the system heavily oversupplied. * Day-ahead gas fell by 0.50 pence to 48.15 pence per therm at 0833 GMT. * Within-day was down 0.50 pence at 48 p/therm. * A 20 percent rise in day-ahead prices since Sept. 29 has helped to incentivise heavy withdrawals from several mid-range UK storage sites, adding to system oversupply. * The Aldbrough mid-range storage facility was pumping about 21 million cubic metres/day (mcm/day), with Stublach sending 15 mcm/day, National Grid (LSE: NG.L - news) data showed. * Higher-than-expected flows from Rough, the UK's biggest gas storage site, stood at 12 mcm/day, data showed. * With British gas prices showing a strong premium to rival north west European trading hubs, exports to Belgium through the Interconnector UK pipeline slowed to a trickle, aggravating the supply overhang facing the UK's gas market. * The system was oversupplied by 31.1 mcm/day, with demand estimated at 171.5 mcm/day and supplies pegged at 202.6 mcm/day, National Grid data showed. * Milder-than-average temperatures for the time of year further weighed on demand. * And Norwegian flows declined sharply to 21 mcm/day following the scheduled shutdown of the Kollsnes gas processing plant, but analysts expect flows to return to 50 mcm/day from Thursday. * In the Dutch gas market, the day-ahead price at the TTF hub was 0.08 euro higher at 17.98 euros per megawatt hour. * The benchmark Dec (Shanghai: 600875.SS - news) -17 EU carbon contract was 0.02 euro lower at 6.94 euros a tonne. * Thomson Reuters (Dusseldorf: TOC.DU - news) analyst view: http://emea1.apps.cp.extranet.thomsonreuters.biz/cms/?pageid=united-kingdom-gas (Reporting by Oleg Vukmanovic, editing by Louise Heavens)