Pricewatch | 14 May 2021 | Gas Matters Today

The European carbon price bull run ended on Thursday, amid profit taking and weaker gas and coal prices.

The May-dated EUA contract fell for the first time in seven on Thursday, settling 1.5% lower at EUR 54.34/tonne. As for the benchmark December 2021 contract, it closed at EUR 54.49/tonne yesterday. The dip was pinned on profit taking and weaker gas and coal prices in Europe.

European gas markers NBP and TTF diverged on Thursday, with NBP up 0.2% in GBP/th terms, however the UK gas marker was down 0.1% in USD/MMBtu terms, settling at USD 9.39/MMBtu. As for TTF, the Dutch marker was down 0.7%, settling at the equivalent of USD 9.28/MMBtu.

The losses by the European gas markers reduced their premium over JKM, which remained unchanged at USD 9.13/MMBtu – a figure USD 0.16/MMBtu lower than TTF and USD 0.26/MMBtu lower than NBP.

In the US, gas benchmark Henry Hub recorded a marginal gain but remained at USD 2.97/MMBtu.

Crude prices fell for the first time in four days on Thursday, with the front-month Brent and WTI contracts down by over 3% to settle in the USD 67/barrel and USD 63/barrel range respectively.

The drop was largely due to the Colonial Pipeline – supplying 45% of all fuel consumed on America’s east coast – resuming operations following a cyberattack, with concerns over surging Covid-19 cases in India once again weighing on prices.  

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.