Prices up again amid Norwegian gas pipeline maintenance
Gas prices increased for the fourth consecutive day on Thursday amid continued maintenance in Norway and a bullish carbon futures.
The biggest moves were once again posted at the front-end, with the November 24 front month contract surging by an additional 3p/therm (0.1p/kWh) when compared its previous close.
Offline production capacity in Norway continued to serve as an underlying source of support for its potential to tighten the British supply and demand balance. According to data from operator Gassco, output at the Sleipner B platform continued to remove 5.1mcm of supply across the gas-day.
Furthermore, a compressor failure at the Oseberg field removed an additional 11mcm and it’s currently unclear when either of these outages will be resolved.
Sharp gains on Europe’s primary carbon benchmark may have also added to the bullish sentiment. The recent lull in wind power across the continent may have contributed to strength on the EUA December 24 benchmark contract, with sizeable gains of circa 2.7% posted day on-day (7.9% when compared to Monday’s close, data from ICE).
So far this morning, natural gas prices are edging even higher, with the Summer 25 front-season contract currently being offered just south of the 100p/therm (3.41p/kWh) psychological level, although many contracts have yet to trade at time of writing.
If you want to see more information on the wholesale market trends subscribe to our weekly report here.
Price commentary courtesy of Crown Gas and Power 