(Updates with detail.)
LONDON -(Dow Jones)- U.K gas and power operator National Grid PLC (NGG) friday said it has delayed routine inspections on gas pipelines at two liquefied natural gas terminals in Milford Haven until next week.
The checks using pipeline inspection gauges were due to take place Nov. 4, according to data on National Grid's Web Site, but a spokesman for the company confirmed these would now take place next week.
Flows through the pipelines are likely to be lower during the procedure and could tighten supplies to the U.K. network, lending support to prompt natural gas prices, traders said.
Qatari vessl Bu Samra arrived at the South Hook terminal in Milford Haven earlier in the day, while another LNG vessel, the British Ruby, is expected to dock at Dragon terminal next week.
These vessels are the latest in a series of LNG cargo arrivals in the U.K. in the last six months, which has significantly increased the supply of gas into Europe from the Middle East, depressing U.K. prices.
Dragon LNG and South Hook LNG terminals, both in South Wales, were both fully commissioned in 2009, and between them have a capacity to supply up to 25% of the U.K.'s gas requirements. The Isle of Grain, the U.K.'s oldest LNG import terminal, can import 9.8 million metric tons of LNG a year.
-By Angela Henshall, Dow Jones Newswires; +44 (0)20 7842 9285; angela.henshall@dowjones.com