Prices down marginally as demand falls

Small incremental losses to gas prices were posted across the near curve.

National Gas data shows that system demand continued to ease, falling to 158.2mcm on Tuesday, the second lowest recording so far this year amid mild temperatures and lower pipeline exports to the EU.

The latest run of the 14-day model has been revised to show an increase to slightly above seasonal norms in Week 19, it is expected to be short lived, spanning only the 5th and 6th May before dropping off once again until at least 13th May.

The British power market advanced in a similar downward trajectory as consistent solar generation and gas-fired generation offset a recent lull in wind generation.

According to data from National Grid, solar contributed a 16% of the British power mix yesterday, with gas serving as the largest source of power at 45.4%, a stark contrast to wind only 7.4%.

In other news, the UK Government is reportedly conducting reviews of the grid’s resilience to blackouts such as we saw in Spain and Portugal earlier this week.

Home Secretary Yvette Cooper told reporters that the UK has been looking at how to deal with “different kinds of challenges and threats” in light of the major outage that caused large areas of the Iberian Peninsula to lose power on Monday.

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Price commentary courtesy of Crown Gas and Power