Gas  The story so far

26 April 2007

Gas market continues to be influenced by some funny things, carbon oil and occasionally market fundamentals.

The gas market has fallen again mainly on the back of fundamental supply and demand figures which show plentiful gas coming out of St Fergus and Langeled. This is coupled with a mild week and marginal falls in the oil price.

Perhaps the most interesting aspect of the gas market is that day ahead is now consistently trading below 15p/therm (currently at 13.5p/therm) and Winter 07 is trading at 42p/therm. There is a significant step up in the prices between october and november and this is purely so that the curve fundamentals equate. In reality it suggests that Winter 07 is probably over priced. The reason is that some traders believe that some of the €17.4 of emissions costs should be priced into gas (arguably it shouldn't but it is!) but also looking back over history November 2005 had huge spikes and so risk limits are warning players not to short this month too aggressively.

The gas market tends to hugely over price the risks of going short and so often the high prices seen further out do not get sold down until nearer the point of delivery.


Carbon  Gas  Prompt  Weather 

Related Articles
100 % Winter 06 Technical Levels breached  

01 August 2006


Winter 06 falls below the technical levels and could be in for further falls if things continue the way they are going with gas prices on the march down.  read more...

75 % Curve hits a pattern  

10 October 2005


Winters fall as Summers stay still. Traders see the scaremongering and look at the raw facts. Buy the rumour; sell the fact.  read more...

75 % Market falls on low trading  

24 August 2005


Curve falls significantly, as the weather closes in there is a more bearish sentiment to price.  read more...

75 % Mild Outlook turns power down.  

07 March 2005


Mild weather forces drops which are tempered by a very bullish emissions price.  read more...

75 % Cold snap causes spike  

04 March 2005


Cold snap could be the last price spike of Winter 04  read more...


other articles on Carbon
CRC- What Price?  

03 February 2012


In November it was reported that traders in the UK energy markets were beginning to place bets that the Government will not go ahead with its controversial Carbon Floor Price. The Carbon Floor Price has relevance to the CRC, not least because some commentators have suggested that the fixed price levels could track the known Carbon Floor Price. Current EUA prices also seem vastly at odds to the proposed CRC price. British business is lobbying hard for a level and competitive playing field.  read more...

Carbon Floor Price Announcement: The Market Reacts  

25 March 2011


The tensions seen in the markets last week, as participants assessed the impact of Japan and nuclear withdrawal in Germany, appeared to have eased when the market started trading on Monday. The Government's mid week budget Carbon Floor Price announcement soon changes that though  read more...

Japan, Germany & MENA -Global Energy  

18 March 2011


Bullish gains were seen across the fuels complex as traders and analysts rushed to assess the impact of the devastating earthquake and subsequent Tsunami in Japan as well as Germany's announcement that it was to take 7 nuclear generators offline immediately.  read more...

Capacity Payments Discussed as a Tool to encourage Investment  

30 June 2010


In a week when the engineering industry, in its State of the Nation report, said that the Energy Industry gave the most cause for concern in light of security of supply, Energy Minister Charles Hendry spoke of 'Capacity Payments' as a tool to incentivise plant development.  read more...

Coal, Gas & Carbon all help to hold WInter Down  

28 April 2008


Contracts across the power curve opened strongly helped by the high prices reported in the oil markets.  read more...


other articles on Gas
Shale Gas - Latest UK estimates suggest enough for next 11 years  

22 September 2011


Cuadrilla Resources, the company at the forefront of Britain's Shale gas exploration released its first estimates of the amount of shale gas contained in the rocks of Lancashire. At 200 trillion cubic feet, the estimates are significant to say the least.  read more...

Energy Forward Prices continue to gain ground  

10 June 2011


Despite market participants describing the market as stagnant and directionless, energy forward prices continue to gain ground. Winter 11 power closed the week up at £59.65/MWh while NBP Winter 11 gas finished at 72.20p/therm.  read more...

Downward Trend Still in Play  

13 May 2011


Most contracts in the UK energy markets continued to lose ground this week enforcing the downward trend that has been in play since the start of the month. The Winter 11 contracts closed the week at £57.60MW/h and 68.85p/therm.  read more...

Winter 11 - A Slippery Slope  

06 May 2011


While March was a month of shocks and gains, April seems to have marked the start of a downward trend in the UK power market. The WInter 11 contract is just one example.  read more...

The Market in April 2011  

28 April 2011


In comparison to the activity seen in March – the energy markets seemed relatively sedate shedding some of the value along the way.  read more...


other articles on Prompt
Confidence Returns to Market  

20 December 2010


Despite a continuation of cold conditions, confidence was seen returning to the market with a stabilisation of spot prices and comfortable system margins. There was some focus on the curve with seasonal contracts all reporting some gain on the previous weeks levels apart form Summer 13.  read more...

Weather continues to dominate  

10 December 2010


Tight margin concerns resulted in Spot prices reaching highs for nearly two years. The cold weather conditions were the driving force though supply issues compounded the situation.  read more...

Cold snap results in single highest gain since Jul-09  

08 November 2010


Prompt contracts responded to the expected cold spell forecast for this week with the Day Ahead contract (Baseload contract for Monday delivery) on Friday gaining £2.65/MWh – the single highest gain seen since July on this contract. This bullish sentiment did not feed through to the rest of the curve though.  read more...

Gains Seen Across the Curve  

21 December 2009


There was no sign of an early Christmas in the power market on Friday with a 'flurry' of trading resulting in gains across the power curve.  read more...

Market forgets basic principles and panics!  

02 October 2009


It could be said that the market over reacted today in the prompt market with a price rally on the back of a £142 half hourly cash out price.  read more...


other articles on Weather
Monthly Review - Jan 2012  

01 February 2012


Weather, oil sanctions and European debt concerns were the pushers and pullers this month as energy markets responded to competing indicators. Volatility was the only constant.  read more...

Weather Forecasts and Iranian Threats  

27 January 2012


Forecast and outturn cold weather drove gas and coal prices this week which in turn had an impact on the power curve. Iran threatened to cut off crude supplies ahead of the EU's proposed July sanctions; a move that would impact EU nations as they seek to find alternative sources ahead of the import ban.  read more...

Warm weather weighs heavy on prices  

06 January 2012


Unseasonably warm weather and European debt crisis fears continued to influence the markets at the start of 2012. While oil did open the year up on the back of strong economic data from both the US and China, it retraced its steps on surprise US stockpile data combined with the Euro debt fears.  read more...

The Market in April 2011  

28 April 2011


In comparison to the activity seen in March – the energy markets seemed relatively sedate shedding some of the value along the way.  read more...

Confidence Returns to Market  

20 December 2010


Despite a continuation of cold conditions, confidence was seen returning to the market with a stabilisation of spot prices and comfortable system margins. There was some focus on the curve with seasonal contracts all reporting some gain on the previous weeks levels apart form Summer 13.  read more...


Energy News by Date
2012 2011 2010 2009 2008 2007 2006 2005 2004
december november october september august july jun may april march february january
RSS Feed
Keep up to date on energy trading news.
Click here to subscribe
RSS
Day Ahead Electricity Prices

1y  6m  3m  1m
Powerisk Online
Powerisk Online tools and services.
Click here to login
Glossary
Glossary
Powerisk glossary of power terminology.
Click here for glossary
Glossary