UK prices rise as stockdraw accelerates

摘要

1. UK NBP prompt and near-curve prices rose throughout January as cold weather across northwest Europe and strong power sector gas demand accelerated the region's stockdraw and UK LNG receipts remained slow. 2. UK storage sites are on track to be almost empty before the start of summer. With less flexible domestic supply available for later in the winter, a late cold snap or interruption to supply could result in a spike in NBP prompt prices that would encourage coal to push gas back out of the generation mix, quicker pipeline imports from the continent, or higher sendout and more LNG scheduled to be delivered to UK terminals.