Strong gas imports from Norway helps reduce wholesale prices

Stronger Norwegian imports helped reduce gas prices at the NBP on Friday.

After initially resuming their upward trajectory earlier in the session, contracts retreated into the close, with most managing to settle slightly lower week-on-week.

A steady increase in Norwegian flows to the UK may have played into the bearish sentiment. According to data from offshore operator Gassco, flow nominations into Great Britain reached 66.4mcm/d for Fridays gas-day. This represented a sharp increase of 60.8% when compared to 2nd October [41.3mcm/d] as the latest round of planned maintenance continues to wind down.

On the storage front, cold weather continues to slow the pace of British injections, with current levels currently holding just circa 1% above the same date last year (data from National Gas). EU facilities appear to be fairing slightly better however, with the latest data from Gas Infrastructure Europe indicating that the continent has seen consistent net injections since 2nd October, helping to fortify supplies ahead of winter.

This morning, gas prices have opened in bullish mode, with the November 24 front-month contract currently being offered circa 2p/therm (0.07p/kWh) above its previous settlement- although many contracts have yet to trade at time of writing.

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Price commentary courtesy of Crown Gas and Power