Gas and Power Bear markets

Monday 20th February 2017

There has been mainly bearish sentiment across wholesale gas and power over the last fortnight. This has been felt in both Annual and Short-term markets. Whilst the gas market has been rocked by yet more delays with the Rough storage facility coming back on line, generally bullish drivers have been shrugged off. The short term power market has benefitted from the return of three nuclear reactors following maintenance at a time when wind generation has been robust. Weather forecasts are milder than previously anticipated, so there is less pressure on gas. Oil is having little influence on markets, with the main Brent index at +/- $1.50 of the $55 mark of the past month. Whilst Rough withdrawal delays are not having the influence they might have had the winter weather been more severe, any delays in the spring / summer injection schedule may well shore up the gas price in the coming months.

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