Wholesale prices ease amid steady flow of LNG
Day ahead gas prices reduced further on Wednesday amid increased Norwegian nominations and a steady flow of LNG.
All curve contracts posted losses when compared to their previous close with near dated contracts falling 0.05p/kWh day-on-day.
A steady flow of LNG shipments helped prices at the front-end. The latest shipping signals indicate that up to five laden vessels could arrive on British shores by 23rd February with one vessel already arriving at Milford Havens South Hook No2 terminal this morning.
Additionally, an increase in Norwegian flows likely played into the bearish sentiment, data from Gasso shows nominations into the St Fergus and Easington terminals increased by circa 11% day-on-day, despite unplanned outages reducing available capacity at the Nyhamna and Troll facilities.
However, in positive news according to offshore operator Gassco, the unscheduled works have been partially resolved this morning with the Nyhamna plant now at full capacity. This morning, gas prices at the NBP have opened very much in line with their previous close.
If we check the latest half hourly period at the time of writing (10:00 – 10:30), electricity demand is currently 41.73 GW’s in the UK.
The wind has picked up this morning with 30.55% (12.75 GW’s) of the UK’s total electricity being generated from wind turbines at the moment, with gas contributing 16.64 GW’s (39.87%).
If you want to see more information on the wholesale market trends subscribe to our weekly report here.