High levels of price volatility helped by below average demand

Another volatile session at the NBP on Friday, with the market ultimately opting to steer lower day-on-day.

It remained unclear if the US was to become involved in the conflict with targeted strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities.

President Donald Trump had said on Thursday that it may be up to 2 weeks before a decision was made regarding US intervention, feeding underlying support into the NBP curve amid the uncertainty.

Subdued power station demand contributed to below average demand but exports to Belgium and the Netherlands held firm at just over 44mcm/d intra-session amid elevated cooling-related demand in continental Europe (National Gas data).

A recovery in renewable power generation contributed to bearish price action across the baseload power curve on Friday, particularly on the prompt, which saw substantial losses.

According to data from National Grid wind, solar and hydro generation combined to average at 11.2GW, an increase of just under 26% when compared to Thursday, supressing gas-fired power demand.

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Price commentary courtesy of Crown Gas and Power