The NBP front months closed at new record highs

Contracts further out the curve recorded modest losses

The NBP front months closed at new record highs on Tuesday after Gassco, the Norwegian gas operator posted news of further maintenance from today.  Work is set to ramp up at the Troll field and up to 113MCM of capacity could be offline for the next few days and again next week.  The prompt ignored this news for the most part as the GB gas system ran long for much of the session on Tuesday and the spot and day ahead products settled less than a half a penny higher.   Near months gained an average of 2.50p yesterday while contracts further out the curve recorded modest losses.

 There were sharp falls in GB prompt prices for baseload

There were sharp falls in GB prompt prices for baseload power yesterday as demand is expected to fall going into the weekend. Wind generation is also forecast to fall below the seasonal averages for the coming weeks and is expected to supply 2.0GW today.  Baseload for the day ahead shed £41.00/MWh but is still highly inflated at £139.00/MWh.  On the baseload power curve, futures were supported by gains in NBP gas futures, however, lower carbon EUAs curbed increases on the day.  The front month settled £1.50/MWh higher at £128.15/MWh.  Carbon prices declined by 20 cent per tonne on Tuesday.

  Crude oil prices eased for the third session in a row

Crude oil prices eased for the third session in a row yesterday, leaving Brent largely unchanged for the last week.  A strong dollar and concerns of weak demand in Asia and the U.S. weighed on prices yesterday.  The market has interpreted Saudi Aramco’s reduction in price for the Asian market as sign of flagging demand in the region as the spread of the Delta variant of the coronavirus restricts demand.  Losses yesterday were curbed by some solid economic numbers from China and the aftermath of hurricane Ida in the Gulf of Mexico where outages still restrict oil production.

The GB gas system remains balanced this morning

The GB gas system remains balanced this morning with supplies forecast 5MCM long against today’s demand of 132MCM. Natural gas imports from Norway are nominated at just 36MCM for today with maintenance works preventing flows through the Langeled feed.  The spot and day ahead products have yet to trade due to wide bid/ offer spreads.  On the curve, futures are less than a penny up in early exchanges with the front month contract, October. last trading at 137.20p.  Crude oil prices have opened firmer on both sides of the Atlantic, and the two benchmarks have gained around 30 cents a barrel.