UK Energy Market Summary to Friday 3rd January 2025
Closing Prices 03.01.2025
British gas prices rose on Tuesday, driven by Russia’s decision to halt gas transit through Ukraine by the end of the year. The NBP spot price climbed by 4%, closing at 4.2 p/kWh. Meanwhile, on the forward curve, the Sum-2025 contract soared by over 2% to 4.0 p/kWh.
Gas prices rose on Thursday, driven by falling temperatures and weaker wind generation. Thus, the NBP spot price closed 2% higher at 4.2 p/kWh. On the longer-term front, the NBP Sum-2025 also gained 2%, settling at 4.1 p/kWh, amid concerns about the potential halt of Russian gas transit and the ongoing outage at Norway’s Hammerfest LNG plant.
At time of writing, European gas storage levels are 70% full, with the UK 55% full. European gas storage levels are trending just below the 5-year average throughout 2024. Over the past week gas has accounted for 25% of the UK generation mix with wind accounting for 41%, solar 1% and nuclear accounting for 15%. Below summarises curve prices as at close of business on Friday.
Curve UK Gas & Electricity Markets
Other Energy Markets
Oil prices surged by around 2% on Thursday, driven by the anticipation of a cold wave in the United States and increased market activity after the New Year holiday. Brent crude closed at $75.93 per barrel. At the same time, WTI settled at $73.13 per barrel.
European carbon prices climbed by 1.4% on Monday, reaching a four-month high, supported by an auction pause and rising gas prices. EU Allowances expiring in December 2025 settled at 73 EUR/tonne.