Wholesale market reacts to looming gas pipeline maintenance
Gas prices lifted on Wednesday as looming Norwegian maintenance pressured the NBP curve.
The May 25 front-month contract posted its first daily gain in 5 consecutive sessions after edging circa 0.3p/therm (0.01p/kWh) higher day-on-day.
According to data from Norway’s Gassco, planned works will remove 71.17mcm of export capacity on from 3rd May, remaining at this level until 8th May as maintenance begins at Kollsnes processing plant alongside the Gullfaks and Troll offshore fields.
Baseload power prices also saw modest gains amid muted imports from Norway and the EU and a continuing slump in wind generation that is not expected to improve much over the next few days.
According to the latest NESO week ahead forecast published 30th April, wind will decline further into the weekend before seeing a gradual recovery across next week, likely keeping gas-for-power (CCGT) demand elevated over the same period.
We saw positive reports emerge from Washington yesterday evening after the US and Ukraine signed a long-awaited natural resources agreement that the US has implied will award Ukraine continued military support and future investment in defence and reconstruction as the Russia-Ukraine war continues to rage on with only minor progress made toward finding a lasting peace agreement between the two countries so far.
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Price commentary courtesy of Crown Gas and Power 