Tight supply weighed against healthy storage means little movement on wholesale market
Small, mixed moves were posted at the NBP on Thursday as the gas market weighed tight supplies against high storage levels.
Relatively low volatility was observed, with contracts beyond the prompt (immediate delivery) shifting no more than 0.75p/therm (0.026p/kWh) in each direction when compared to their previous close.
Offline Norwegian capacity may have served as an underlying source of pressure, with data from Gassco showing that compressor failure incidents at the Troll and Gullfaks offshore fields combined to remove production capacity at a rate of 12.7mcm/d across the gas-day. The British system was predominately undersupplied throughout Thursday’s session, with data from National Gas showing that there was a shortfall of 5mcm/d at around 3pm UK time.
On the storage front, overall EU gas reserves have now reached 95.05% which is around 3 percentage points above the 5 year moving average (91.98%) helping to bolster confidence in supplies ahead of the winter months (data from Gas Infrastructure Europe).
The NBP has opened in softer territory this morning, with the Summer 25 front-season contract currently being offered circa 1p/therm (0.03p/kWh) below its previous settlement, although many contracts have yet to trade at time of writing.
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Price commentary courtesy of Crown Gas and Power