Thursday 22 January 2015

Chilly weather keeps gas demand high – DMR

Demand for gas remains high today as the cold weather continues, according to the daily market report.

Ben Spry, Optimisation Desk Manager at npower said: “We got a very long gas system this morning at 20 mcm (million cubic meters) long and that’s pressuring prompt prices. We’ve got high consumption, a lot of demand around today as it continues to be quite chilly.”

Similar to yesterday, Norwegian and Dutch pipeline flows remain "pretty steady", he said.

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There's relatively low wind power today but overall the electricity system is comfortable: “Power generation is very comfortable on the peak margin, around about 12 gigawatts. CCGT (combined cycle gas turbine) nomination is a little bit higher, about 15 mcm.”

Prices remain fairly flat today and power follows the gas price trend, being slightly weaker.

Oil prices are $49.50 a barrel as of yesterday's close.