Prices ease as gas supply from Norway resumes following maintenance work

The Winter 26 front-season contract posted substantial losses of circa 10p/therm on its penultimate day of trading, with favourable supplyside fundamentals combining to pressure the frontend
of the curve.

Data from offshore operator Gassco confirmed that a significant 46.2mcm/d unplanned outage at Norway’s Troll field had concluded after 12 days, restoring precious supply to the rest of Europe and its storage facilities.

Norwegian flows to the UK via the Langeled interconnector are expected to more than double today as a result of easing constraints, accounting for around a third of British supply.

Reports that Saudi Arabia had restarted oil exports via its East-West pipeline had a calming effect across global energy markets, as the supply route (taken offline earlier this month due to drone attacks) serves as a key diversion around the Strait of Hormuz.

Falling in step with gas and the wider energy complex, baseload power prices also moved lower on Tuesday. A sharp turn in the generation mix added to the pressure; wind output more than doubled from 17.4% of the stack to 45.6%, while gas-fired generation halved from 42.1% to 21.1%.

The conclusion of maintenance at Troll and forecasts of subseasonal gas-fired demand from next week also eased near-term supply concerns.

Even so, European storage at 71% remains well short of the 87% five-year average, keeping a floor under winter pricing for both gas and power.

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Price commentary courtesy of Crown Gas and Power