Crude oil markets have continued to edge higher

The UK gas markets surged ahead on Friday

The UK gas markets surged ahead on Friday as concerns of tight supplies for the weeks ahead heightened.  LNG exports from the U.S. has been lower for the first half of June as unplanned outages hampered supplies. Meanwhile Norwegian imports remain curtailed due to maintenance works while lower wind generation is set to add to GB gas demand.  Prompt prices closed between 3.75p and 4.20p higher on Friday with the day ahead product for today closing at 74.75p, setting a new high for the year.  NBP futures at the front of the curve settled around 3.00p higher on the day bringing the uplift for the week to an average of 4.35p.

 Surging gas prices coupled with gains in carbon EUAs, supported baseload power prices

Surging gas prices coupled with gains in carbon EUAs, supported baseload power prices on Friday.  Near futures out to the winter contract all gained over £2.00/MWh while contracts from the summer out recorded more modest increases.  Carbon EUAs added around 80 cent per tonne or 1.5% on Friday with the contract for 2021 closing at €51.90. While wind generation picked up to over 5.0GW on Friday, levels for the week ahead are less positive although according to the National Grids site, the forecast for today has been revised up to 5.2GW.  The day ahead product settled £7.00/MWh higher at £80.60/MWh on Friday.

 The crude oil markets were directionless for much of the early session on Friday

After recording the first loss in six sessions on Thursday, the crude oil markets were directionless for much of the early session on Friday before sentiment turned bullish and Brent ended the week 82 cents a barrel higher.  The gain on Friday was 43 cents a barrel for the global benchmark and came after some positive news for air travel between some EU nations and the U.S. were announced as restrictions are to be lifted.  Oil rig activity also increased in the U.S. last week with the latest count of active rigs increasing by eight, although many rigs along the U.S. Gulf coast were on alert as Tropical Storm Claudette moved in over the weekend.

NBP gas prices up sharply this morning

NBP gas prices have firmed from the opening with both prompt and futures up sharply this morning.  The spot has increased by 2.75p to 76.00p although that trade was recorded some time ago, the day ahead product has traded in the last half an hour and is at 75.85p, up 1.10p.  Near futures out to the winter are all trading over 2.00p higher in early exchanges as the front month just eased off the early morning high to 74.04p.  GB gas demand is forecast at 133MCM for today and supplies are tight but showing a slight surplus.  In the crude oil markets both Brent and WTI have continued to edge higher with Brent 42 cents a barrel up while WTI has gained 15 cents a barrel.