Increased Norwegian gas flows helps ease wholesale prices

Following a peak in planned maintenance, a recovery in Norwegian exports contributed to a decline in gas prices at the NBP on Monday.

Substantial losses were posted across the curve, with the Winter 24 front-season contract plummeting circa 4p/therm (0.14p/kWh) to its lowest settlement since 1st May 2024.

According to data from Norwegian operator Gassco, total daily export nominations rose by 10% to 183.5mcm on Monday. The restart of flows via the Langeled pipeline lifted flows to Great Britain from 0mcm on Sunday to 22.3mcm on Monday though this coincided with an unplanned outage at the Aasta Hansteen field, which may have prevented flows from increasing further.

On the storage front, data from Gas Infrastructure Europe shows that EU storage facilities were 93.4% full as of 15th September, which is around 6% higher than the 5-year rolling average for that date.

In other news, the UK Offshore Energies Association has reported this morning that the UK has met a key obligation under the North Sea Transition Deal by reducing upstream oil and gas emissions by 28% between 2018 and 2023. This means the UK has reached a key milestone 4 years early, as the transition deal had originally stipulated that emissions be reduced 25% by no later than 2027 as part of net-zero commitments.

This morning, gas prices appear to have retracted slightly following on from yesterday’s close, with the October 24 front-month contract currently being offered circa 1p/therm (0.03p/kWh) above its previous settlement at time of writing.

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Price commentary courtesy of Crown Gas and Power