3rd May 2019 | Posted by: Daniel Birkett | Market Analysis

Gas Power
Market Close Market Close
Near-curve gas prices climbed slightly higher yesterday due to an undersupplied system and a colder weather forecast for the weekend. Meanwhile, contracts further along the curve were pressured down by weaker oil, power and carbon markets. Power prices followed gas, with the near-curve displaying gains ahead of an expected drop in temperatures over the weekend; a rise in feedstock prices was also a factor. Further out, contracts moved down with direction provided by a drop in carbon and Brent.
Market Open Market Open
The system has opened long this morning as Norwegian flows have improved following an outage. Exports are at maximum but supply is healthy due to strong LNG send-outs. Gas prices at the front of the curve display losses on the back of this comfortable supply picture, while weakening Brent weighs on the far-curve. Weather forecasts are unchanged with cooler weather expected over the coming days which has supported the prompt. The rest of the curve is stable-to-bearish, with little direction provided by fuel markets which are largely unchanged from yesterday’s close.

For a breakdown of the current generation mix visit our Power Generation Insights page.

Brent Summary

Brent 1st-nearby prices fell below $70/b yesterday with bearish pressure provided by a significant rise in US oil inventories and low compliance from Russia in terms of production cuts. Prices have since rebounded to around $75.75/b but current fundamentals are bearish.

1-year forward prices

Market close data has revealed that the 1-year forward price for both commercial gas & commercial electricity decreased – closing at 48.69ppt and £52.43/MWh, respectively.

Today’s prices can also be found in an easy to read table on our ‘current UK energy price' page.

Click graph to enlarge

energy price graph - 03-05-2019

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