Market held within narrow range amid opposing supply and demand factors
Markets held in a narrow range Tuesday amid opposing supply and demand factors.
Persistently strong LNG imports were offset by unseasonably high demand and North Sea disruptions.
According to data from Norwegian operator Gassco, a total of 20.8mcm was offline due to unplanned works at the Aasta Hansteen and Dvalin gas fields due to compressor failure and a lack of blending gas.
National Gas REMIT data shows that the Wormington Compressor Station, vital for the entry of LNG flows into the NTS, saw reduced capacity of circa 10mcm for several hours and an additional outage of 4.4mcm at UK’s Culzean field also curbed capacity.
A bullish wider energy complex and declining renewable generation supported power contracts on Tuesday, which saw a similar upward correction to natural gas counterparts.
ICE data shows that the Brent Crude and Carbon EUA benchmark contracts saw gains of 1.1% of 1.6%, respectively.
Oil remains a significant source of power generation across Europe (though not in Great Britain) and so price rises stoke competition across other fossil fuel benchmarks.
Carbon EUA/UKA costs are an embedded cost of fossil fuel generation, and these latest gains align with heightened short-term reliance on gas-fired plants.
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Price commentary courtesy of Crown Gas and Power 