It was another day of wild swings in the crude oil markets

18 March 2022

Some of Wednesday’s losses to near curve futures were clawed back yesterday

Some of Wednesday’s losses to near curve futures were clawed back yesterday as the market is wary of progress in the ceasefire talks.  The front month settled almost 9.00p higher on Wednesday which was around the average gain for the summer month contracts yesterday.  While both sides in the conflict are reporting progress in peace talks, the Russians continue to bombard Ukrainian cities with overnight shelling.  Lower wind generation will mean an increase to gas GB demand on Friday while Norwegian imports are be curbed due to planned maintenance and near prompt products stepped up in response with the day ahead closing 17.45p higher at 245.50p.

 Carbon EUAs closed 1.2% higher

Yesterday’s gains on the NBP near curve provided support to the GB baseload futures. While the front month settled £12.15/MWh up at £226.20/MWh, the remaining summer months were marked up by £8.60/MWh higher on average.  Carbon EUAs closed 1.2% higher with the Dec-22 contract closing at €79.75 per tonne. Baseload for the day ahead shed £18.16/MWh on Thursday as wind generation is now forecast a touch higher for Friday.  Wind is expected to contribute more than 4.0GW of demand tomorrow, gas fired generation should increase by around 2.8GW to 15.5GW meeting 42% of GB demand.

 The global benchmark had shed $14.65 a barrel over the previous three sessions

It was another day of wild swings in the crude oil markets with Brent settling $8.62 a barrel higher on Thursday. The global benchmark had shed $14.65 a barrel over the previous three sessions but yesterday’s bounce in prices came after the International Energy Agency said on Wednesday that the market could lose three million barrels of Russian oil products from April.  This would exceed the one million plus barrels per day that the market expected to lose from lower demand caused by inflated prices.  News from China also added to the upside yesterday with the world’s second largest user of oil pledging to boost economic growth while hopes were raised that lockdowns may be lifted sooner as latest figures show new cases of Covid-19 are on the decline.

It’s been a sluggish start to trading this morning

After a very volatile week in the energy markets, it’s been a sluggish start to trading this morning.  On the NBP futures market, the front month is 3.88p higher with no other contracts past the front quarter showing any deals for the morning.  The prompt market is also reluctant to get off the blocks and only the spot product has traded and was 0.55p lower on the last exchange.  Reports from the peace talks are touting a 15-point peace plan being seriously discussed but no details have been released and the Russian shelling of Ukrainian cities continued last night.  Brent has moved $1.35 a barrel higher to $107.99 a barrel which is closer to the low of the day.
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