Pricewatch | 12 Feb 2021 | Gas Matters Today

The record oil price bull run came to an end of Thursday, with the front-month Brent crude contract settling 0.5% lower but remaining in the USD 61/barrel range, and WTI falling by 0.7% but remaining in the USD 58/barrel range.

The loss came after both OPEC and the International Energy Agency (IEA) played down the idea of a swift recovery in crude demand, due to new strains of coronavirus, continued lockdown measures and the slow rollout of Covid-19 vaccines in Europe.

Front-month European gas prices continued to slide amid forecasts of milder weather and ample gas supply – namely more LNG. The front-month UK NBP price settled 7.5% lower, and the month-ahead Dutch TTF price slid by 6.4% to settle at the equivalent of USD 6.17/MMBtu. In the US, the front-month Henry Hub price fell by 1.5% to close in the USD 2.8/MMBtu range.

CME’s JKM futures contract continued to slide, closing 0.2% lower at USD 8.27/MMBtu.

The European carbon price fell back into the EUR 38/tonne range after hitting a record high on Wednesday.

Front-month futures and indexes at last close with day-on-day changes (click to enlarge):

​Time references based on London GMT. Brent, WTI, NBP, TTF and EU CO2 data from ICE. Henry Hub, JKM and API2 data from CME. Prices in USD/MMBtu based on exchange rates at last market close. All monetary values rounded to nearest whole cent/penny. Text and graphic copyright © Gas Strategies, all rights reserved.