Natural Gas Market - Page 24

The average NBP price for July was €16.2/MWh ($6.4/MBtu), 3.6% less than the previous month and 37% less than the same month last year. The NBP was marked by relatively high volatility, around +/-10%. It fell to a low of €14.8/MWh ($5.9/MBtu) on 11 July before climbing to nearly €18/MWh ($7.0/MBtu) on 28 July. This increase coincided with rising tensions between Russia and the Western countries, with stiffer sanctions imposed by the US on 16 July and then by the Europeans on 28 July. However, it should be noted that pressure remains moderate for now. In fact, the NBP is significantly lower than it was during the past three summers (€21 to €26/MWh on average).

Future trends remain very uncertain given the many possible scenarios regarding Ukraine (whether or not gas transit via Ukraine will be impacted, Russian exports disrupted, etc.). Relative to the beginning of July, the market is gradually adjusting the trends for the coming months upwards, particularly for the winter. Future prices are now around €27/MWh from December to next March.

The average NBP price in June stood at €16.8/MWh (US$6.7/MBtu), down 12% on the previous month and down 31% compared with the same month last year. The price of NBP is at its lowest since mid-2010 – and is now cost-competitive with coal in the electricity sector. This means equivalent production costs, factoring in the price of CO2 at €6/tonne, as well as the Carbon Price Support (CPS) effect. Introduced in April 2013 (at £4.9/TCO2), it has been at £9.5/TCO2 since April, significantly increasing the cost of using coal to generate electricity. The cost increase is around €11/MWh, as opposed to €4/MWh for a gas-fired power plant.

The fall in the price of NBP which began in December (-45%!) is continuing (an 8% fall in May compared with the previous month) and even picked up the pace in June: an 8% fall between 30 May and the current €16.4/MWh (US$6.5/MBtu) listings. This means that the price of NBP is approaching the competitive price for coal – an estimated €14/MWh (US$5.6/MBtu) based on a level of €55/tonne for coal (€61/tonne in 2013) and €5.4/tonne for CO2. This price correction can be attributed to several factors, including the extension granted until 10 June to find an agreement on the Ukrainian crisis, but mainly to the UK market context. Demand is moderate (71 Gm3 over a sliding year as opposed to 80 Gm3 12 months ago), temperatures are rising, stocks are high as they are on the continent, and sales of LNG have been sustained since the end of March (40/50 mcmd – 20/25% of demand). Overall, the LNG market is unaffected by tensions, with prices in Asia of under US$13/MBtu, as opposed to US$20 in February. The shoring up of Norwegian deliveries at the end of May via the “Langeled” gas pipeline should also be mentioned among the economic factors. The imminent closure for maintenance (11 to 26 June) of the Interconnector, which is currently used to transit 30 mcmd to the continent, is also a factor pushing prices down (down to €14/MWh, or US$5.6/MBtu?). And the downward trend of oil price indexation in contracts (which encourages spot gas prices to respond in a more marked way to supply/demand balance) should also be highlighted. This is a structural movement in Europe (ENI/Gazprom agreement in May based on the market, 60% of spot prices referenced in France) that is in the process of affecting Asia.