Gas prices down marginally amid strong wind output
Gas prices continued to trade within a narrow range at the NBP on Thursday amid strong wind output.
The biggest moves were once again posted at the front-end, as high storage and surging wind output countered short term supply woes. Above-average European storage levels no doubt helped to underpin the bearish sentiment.
The latest data from Gas Infrastructure Europe showing that continental stocks have now reached 83.52% full, which is slightly below the same date last year (84.16%) yet still well above the 5 year moving average of 72.34%.
A sudden uptick in British wind output may have served as an additional source of pressure, data from National Grid shows that wind turbine power saw a sharp daily increase of around 80% which helped to keep a lid on gas-fired (CCGT) power demand over the gas-day.
It wasn’t all plain sailing however as Norwegian operator Gassco extended the unplanned outage at Visund until at least 31st July with uncertain flows expected while production is slowly ramped back up to full capacity.
In other news, the Texas based Freeport LNG export terminal (the second largest of its kind in the US) is ‘safely progressing’ the restart of all three of its liquefaction trains following a complete shutdown ahead of Hurricane Beryl earlier this month, spurring on hopes that the facility could be fully operational by the end of August.
NBP contracts have so far opened at a slight premium when compared to yesterdays close, with the Winter 24 front-season contract currently being offered circa 1.5p/therm (0.05p/kWh) above its previous settlement at time of writing.
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Price commentary courtesy of Crown Gas and Power 