November Markets Update

Gas

• Gas prices dropped at the start of the month as a result of increased supply.
• Day-ahead closed at the end of October at 28.25p/th.
• Month-ahead dropped by 5.4%, settling at 40p/th at the end of October but increasing to 42.65p/th at the start of November.

Electricity

• Day-ahead decreased at the start of the month by 2.9%, closing at £34.25/MWh last week.
• Month-ahead contract ended October at £47.55/MWh, significantly lower than a year ago, partly due to higher than expected temperatures.
• Day-ahead increased 8.3% in October, closing at £37.50/MWh while month-ahead decreased by 4.3% settling at £47.55/MWh. At the start of November, day-ahead was nearer £34.25/MWh with the month ahead at £48.96/MWh.

Oil

• The European Union is being urged to halt funding of fossil fuel projects including coal projects, on sustainability grounds.  According to a report by the BBC, this would potentially cut £1.7bn of annual investments.
• Opec, the oil production group, announced at the start of November that it tends to reduce supply from 35m barrels per day to 32.8m by 2024.

Coal

• Coal prices fell again at the start of November because of strong supply and bearish signals from the Asia-Pacific region.  The API2 contract closed the first week of November at USD 58.55/t, its lowest since September.

Carbon EU ETS

• The European Commission has said that the EU ETS has proved that ‘putting a price on carbon and trading in it can work’.  In 2020, emissions from sectors covered by the system will be 21% lower than in 2005 and by 2030 they will be 43% lower.