Friday 31 October 2014
Gas prices dipped today after a gas deal was signed overnight between Ukraine and Russia.
The agreement brings a moment of relief after fears of a European gas supply crunch.
This morning contracts for November were trading at nearly 2 pence less per therm (the standard measure for gas) versus yesterday’s opening price of 52.15p.
The daily market report from npower’s Optimisation Desk stated prices for gas to be delivered in summer 2015 were also lower at 51.4p per therm.
There’s plenty of gas in the UK’s system too.
Tim Carter, Client Portfolio Manager at npower said: “Gas nominations suggest the Linepack will close 15 million cubic meters (mcm) long, adding further pressure to the price drop.”
Warm temperatures forecast at 10 degrees above the norm for today could help the price drop further, he added.
Meanwhile the power system also has “very healthy margins” of more than 11 gigawatts’ (GW) worth of spare capacity as wind power picks up, said the analyst.