Markets This Morning
British wholesale gas prices fell sharply on Monday morning after the United States and Iran paused military strikes over the weekend, raising hopes that energy shipments through the Strait of Hormuz could resume. The NBP front-month contract was down 10.24p at 143.87p/therm, having recovered from an earlier low this morning of 139.96p/therm. The US has reported no strikes on Iran since Thursday night, while Iran has not attacked US bases in the region since Friday. US Ambassador to the UN Mike Waltz said President Donald Trump was “giving the talks some space”. Front-month Brent also fell $7.05 to $89.73/bbl, its lowest level in almost a week. However, the pause in hostilities provides no guarantee that oil and LNG flows from the region will resume in the near term.
Friday in Summary
Energy markets remained highly sensitive to escalating tensions in the Middle East on Friday. NBP front-month gas rose 4.66p to 154.11p/therm, ending the week more than 11% higher as renewed US strikes on Iran and the continued blockade of the Strait of Hormuz raised concerns over LNG supplies and Europe’s ability to refill storage. An outage at Norway’s Dvalin field also supported prompt prices, while stronger gas contracts lifted the GB Baseload front-month £2.65 to £128/MWh. Brent crude fell $3.91 to $96.78/bbl on reports of renewed US-Iran peace efforts, while Dec-26 EUAs eased to €83.40/t following technical selling.
