MARKET INSIGHT:Fleeting UK Discount

摘要

Prompt spot gas at the UK National Balancing Point(NBP)plunged to 2006 lows - and to steep discounts to continental prices - when the Interconnector pipe to Belgium was closed in early June for scheduled maintenance,trapping North Sea gas inside the UK at a time when substantial volumes would normally be exported to the continent.Day-ahead NBP gas at 28 pence per therm(5.15 per million Btu)early last week was a full 2.25/MMBtu below the 7.38/MMBtu(40 p/th)price at Belgium's Zeebrugge hub,which in turn was nearly level with the Dutch TTF price.By Friday,NBP prompt gas was down to 22 p/th.But as the Interconnector's outage ended Jun.20,NBP prices rebounded.This Monday,values for day-ahead gas were 6.75/MMBtu(36.5 p/th)at NBP,7.12/MMBtu at Zeebrugge and 6.94/MMBtu at Dutch TTF(see hub map p7).