Archived Summaries

Thursday 02 August 2012
Market Close
 The UK gas system was finely balanced throughout the day yesterday with forecast deliveries matching or running slightly ahead of demand at 183 MCM.  LNG send-out from Milford Haven remained robust at 53 MCM and the Isle of Grain contributed a further 7 MCM from LNG storage while Norwegian supplies increased to average 50 MCM with Langeled deliveries running at between 28 and 38 MCM.  UK prompt gas prices fell significantly for the second consecutive day.  Within day gas shed 1.20p on Wednesday's closing level and the day ahead price for today was down by 0.45.  The weekend and week ahead were down by 1.50 and 1.35p respectively. On the futures market, the front month and October contracts were down by 0.20 and 0.29p while contracts further out the curve recorded minor losses of less than 0.20p.  For the second day running, the markets were disappointed by lack of any significant economic stimulus measures, this time from the EU as the ECB held interest rates unchanged and made only vague commitments to bolstering the bond markets by direct intervention.