1st April 2014 | Posted by: Daniel Birkett | Market Analysis

Spot power prices are set to decrease further as the mild weather in the UK is set to continue while renewable generation levels are also set to improve in the next few days. Gas prices continued to move down yesterday on the back of the healthy supply picture and low demand levels. Contracts are expected to decrease further this afternoon due to the warmer weather and ample supply levels. Today's prices can also be found in an easy to read table on our 'current UK energy price' page.

How did the energy markets close?

Gas prices traded down yesterday in the last session before the front-month change over with some contracts falling below 50ppt. The UK gas system was long for the majority of the session as overall gas flows were healthy and storage levels are high. Power contracts followed their gas counterparts as warmer weather resulted in low demand and helped to weigh on prices. Day-Ahead gas shed £0.45/MWh from its price and ignored weak wind production and maintenance at a French interconnector.

How did the energy markets open?

Day-Ahead gas climbed 0.45ppt higher this morning as the UK gas system opened 20mcm short following a 50% decrease in Norwegian flows which fell to 30mcm. Overall gas flows were at their lowest point since December as 65mcm is currently being injected into storage facilities. Further along the curve a mild weather forecast and three pending LNG deliveries helped to restrict the bulls. The power curve displayed little movement this morning as May-14, Q3-14 and Winter-14 were all unchanged. Day-Ahead power climbed £0.25/MWh higher despite a healthier wind generation forecast for Wednesday.

1-year forward prices

Market close data has revealed that the 1-year forward price for both commercial gas & commercial electricity moved higher - closing at 59.96ppt and £49.80/MWh, respectively. This can be seen in the graph below. energy prices Note: Brent Crude prices are taken from opening market data, and do not represent the price as it changes throughout the day.

Latest Brent Crude Prices

Brent 1st-nearby prices encountered a rather turbulent trading session but finally ended the session unchanged yesterday; opening up at $107.7/b this morning. WTI also displayed practically no change and the Brent/ WTI spread currently stands at -$6.3/b.