Within-day gas prices were down 1.80 pence to 29.00 p/therm

Day-ahead gas prices fell 1.5 pence to 28.50 p/therm

Prices fell due to a "balanced system again after all these short days", a gas trader said.

The British gas system is expected to be largely balanced, with demand forecast at 207.1 million cubic metres (mcm) and supply seen at 207.4 mcm, according to National Grid data.

In previous days the system faced undersupply. On Tuesday morning the supply gap was 31.4 mcm, but demand for gas fell on Wednesday, assisting the price move.

Demand was still 47 mcm higher than the seasonal norm, down from 65 mcm the previous day.

Norwegian gas flows to Britain are seen at 73 mcm/day on Wednesday, flat from Tuesday.

Peak wind generation is expected to be 2.9 gigawatts (GW) on Wednesday and to rise to 5.8 GW on Thursday, out of a total metred capacity of 12 GW.

Strong power production from wind turbines typically reduces demand for electricity from gas-fired power stations.

Average daily temperatures in Britain are expected to reach 14.9 degrees Celsius on Wednesday and are seen falling to 13.4C on Thursday.

Four Qatari liquefied natural gas (LNG) cargoes are expected at the South Hook terminal till July 5.

The July gas contract fell by 0.30 pence to 27.40 p/therm.

The day-ahead gas price at the Dutch TTF hub fell 0.42 euro to 10.68 euros per megawatt hour.

Benchmark Dec-19 EU carbon contracts rose 0.07 euro to 25.19 euros per tonne.