9th January 2018 | Posted by: Daniel Birkett | Market Analysis

Gas Power
Market Close Market Close
Gas prices moved higher yesterday afternoon as gas demand increased and wind levels were set to weaken over the coming days. Support was also provided by an earthquake near the Groningen gas facility in Holland. Meanwhile, the far-curve continued to take direction from bullish coal and oil markets. An expected drop in wind generation and continued cold weather helped Day-Ahead power climb higher yesterday. However, temperatures are set to turn milder later in the month which weighed on the rest of the near-curve. Further out, contracts added to their price on the back of rising Brent and coal.
Market Open Market Open
Cold temperatures continue to keep demand levels high, with a drop in wind levels leading to a rise in gas-fired power generation, resulting in gains on the near-curve. However, the system remains oversupplied due to higher IUK flows; the system opened 16mcm long, a 4mcm rise from yesterday. The earthquake in Holland continues to provide support to some contracts, while the oil market has stabilised. Fundamentals are largely unchanged with the prompt displaying a further gain due to tomorrow’s cold weather forecast, while wind levels are set for another drop. The gas market has provided some bullish sentiment at the front of the curve but a drop in coal prices has contributed to losses at the back of the curve.

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

Brent Summary

Brent 1st-nearby prices neared their May 2015 highs yesterday but have eased down a bit this morning to trade at around $67.8/b. The market currently lacks any real direction and yesterday’s movement was thought to be speculation by traders.

1-year forward prices

Market close data has revealed that the 1-year forward price for both commercial gas & commercial electricity increased slightly – closing at 49.29ppt and £47.73/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 -09-01-2018

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