Intraday volatility remained amid forecast of increased demand

NBP gas prices retraced on Thursday, however intraday volatility remained heightened as participants assess for slight fluctuations in near-term weather and demand forecasts and their implications for regional storage.

Crown Gas & Powers 14-day model indicates that above average demand starting Sunday will persist until at least 5th February.

With that said, forecasted demand has gradually eased off over the past few days and the date at which demand is expected to rise above seasonal norms has been pushed back by a couple of days.

Following a brief dip at the end of last week, the pace of storage withdrawals has ramped up across this week, with overall EU levels standing at 47.63% as of Wednesday 21st January.

Similar losses recorded across the baseload power curve in yesterday’s session, though sentiment was muddied by intraday swings, with both gas and power markets appearing very unsettled and without clear direction.

Wind output was largely flat day-on-day, averaging at a rate 19.9GW and serving as the largest source of power generation in Great Britain.

Nuclear power has trended slightly lower this week amid a partial unplanned outage at the Torness nuclear plant in Scotland, though the curtailment is expected to be resolved by next week.

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Price commentary courtesy of Crown Gas and Power