18th December 2015 | Posted by: Daniel Birkett | Market Analysis

Gas Power
Market Close Market Close
Gas prices weakened further on Thursday due to below average demand levels and improved supply. An oversupplied gas system resulted in a sizeable loss on the prompt, with residential demand 33% below the seasonal norm. Gas-fired power generation also declined due to an increase in wind production. More downward movement was displayed on the power curve yesterday as mild weather and higher wind generation weighed on contracts. Day-Ahead lost close to £1/MWh and Winter-17 fell by £0.20/MWh, with weaker oil assisting the bears on the far-curve.
Market Open Market Open
The Dutch gas production strategy has offered support to contracts this morning as output is set to be reduced to 27bcm. However, overall fundamentals remain bearish which has limited the losses as the supply/ demand outlook in the UK is generally unchanged. Unplanned outages have occurred at the Hartlepool, Hunterston and Heysham power plants which all have one unit offline; providing some upward pressure to near-curve power contracts. However, the three power plants are expected to return to full capacity over the weekend and wind generation remains comfortable.

Brent Summary

Brent 1st-nearby prices recorded another loss yesterday but have inched higher this morning to trade at $37.18/b with little change to fundamentals.

1-year forward prices

Market close data has revealed that the 1-year forward price for both commercial gas & commercial electricity increased - closing at 32.35ppt and £37.63/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 - 18-12-2015