Gas prices come under pressure due to unplanned Norwegian pipeline maintenance

Day ahead natural gas prices held relatively firm on Friday, amid unplanned Norwegian maintenance and a bearish Carbon market.

Contract prices across the curve rallied in early trade before changing direction and falling throughout the afternoon.

The end result was gains of up to just 0.03p/kWh posted across key contracts when compared to their previous settlement. Lingering supply concerns due to rising geopolitical tensions in the Middle East likely continued to act as a key source of concern.

Additional bullishness likely came due to an unplanned outage at Norway’s Asgard field, according to data from offshore operator Gassco, the facility operated at a reduced capacity throughout the session due to a processing issue. The potential increase was however perhaps muted by seasonally warm temperatures curbing demand.

ICE data shows that the EUA benchmark contract continued to follow its downward trajectory on Friday and posted its largest weekly loss (5.3%) since August. At the time of writing (23/10/2023) Gas prices have opened in negative territory at the NBP this morning, with the Summer-24 contract last trading more than 0.17p/kWh below it previous settlement.

Five key energy suppliers has re-issued with high prices in the last 24 hours. If your electricity or gas contract is up for renewal in the next 6 months, we would encourage you to compare prices and consider a fixed term contract option to protect your business overheads as the market remains extremely volatile.

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