Unplanned gas pipeline maintenance forces prices up

NBP gas prices continued their upward trajectory on Friday, fueled by Norwegian maintenance and an undersupplied British system.

Both the front-month and front-season contracts saw upside of circa 1.6p/therm (0.05p/kWh) when compared to the previous close amid minor supply disruption.

According to data from offshore operator Gassco, unplanned outages at the Kårstø and Kollsnes gas treatment plants removed capacity at a rate of 20.6mcm/day, each with an uncertain duration.

The British gas system was subsequently short throughout the session with intraday forecasts from operator National Gas indicating a projected end of day shortfall of 14.9mcm at around 3pm UK time.

This morning, gas prices have continued their upward trajectory, with the January 25 front-month contract currently being offered circa 3p/therm (0.1p/kWh) above its previous settlement, at time of writing.

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Price commentary courtesy of Crown Gas and Power