Thursday, 30 September 2010
UK gas prices ease after rally as supplies improve
week on erratic Norwegian supply and strong demand for export to continental
Europe. Gas for delivery on Thursday traded around 48.55 pence at 1100 GMT, about
0.40 pence lower than the price paid for within-day gas late on Wednesday,
as slightly stronger supply from Norway and healthy flows from liquefied
natural gas terminals helped meet demand. UK gas prices generally rose for
the first three days of the week, but most prices were softer on Thursday
morning. "It's probably just been a bit over cooked last couple of days,"
one trader said, adding that the market was waiting to see how much gas is
pumped into Britain during October -- the start of the six month winter
period. October gas contracts traded up half a penny to 46.50 pence ($7.37 per
mmbtu), but prices for Winter 2010 contracts and beyond all fell. After a bumpy start to the week, supplies via Norway's Langeled pipeline
were relatively stable overnight and crept up to around 20 million cubic
metres by midday, according to data from National Grid. Supplies were boosted by Britain's Rough gas storage facility overnight but
strong flows from both the South Hook and Isle of Grain LNG terminals,
combined with pipeline flows, helped meet demand after Rough stopped pumping
out gas from under the North Sea. http://af.reuters.com/article/energyOilNews/idAFLDE68T1EU20100930
Bodies that miss CRC deadline 'will not be named and shamed'
that fail to sign up to its Carbon Reduction Commitment emissions trading
scheme in time for tomorrow's deadline.
The announcement came after the Treasury today became the last central
government department to sign up to the CRC on the final day of
registration. All Whitehall ministries were required to take part under the
terms of the scheme. The CRC, set up by the Department for Energy and Climate Change and run by
the Environment Agency, is expected to involve around 5,000 large
organisations from the private, voluntary and public sectors. An Environment Agency spokeswoman told Public Finance this afternoon: 'We
will not be naming and shaming people - we want to work with businesses and
public sector organisations. 'If they have not registered yet, we will be finding out why, but we will
not be putting their names into the public domain.' http://www.publicfinance.co.uk/news/2010/09/bodies-that-miss-crc-deadline-wi
ll-not-be-named-and-shamed/
U.K. Utilities Earn on Power Users, Lose on Gas
supplying gas, according to NERA Economic Consulting. The overall profit for the year starting Aug. 25 on each electricity user
will be 31 pounds ($49), NERA said today in e- mailed report written on
behalf of Energy-UK, which represents energy suppliers. The annual losses
will be 32 pounds for each gas customer and 31 pounds for customers using
both fuels. The figures are lower than last quarter, NERA said. "I find it hard to believe that net margins are negative given recent
results on residential supply divisions," David Hunter, international
business manager at McKinnon & Clarke, an energy
broker based in Fife, Scotland,
said by telephone today. In a separate report, U.K. energy regulator Ofgem lowered its estimates for
utility profits for customers using both electricity and gas. The quarterly
report on retail markets was published on its website today.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-09-29/u-k-energy-utilities-earn-on-power-
users-lose-on-gas-clients.html
Wednesday, 29 September 2010
U.K. Natural Gas Advances on Continental Demand; Power Gains - Bloomberg
U.K. forward natural gas prices rose on signs that continued demand from the European continent for the fuel may keep the British market undersupplied through at least November. Electricity prices in Britain also advanced.
Gas for delivery next month rose as much as 0.90 pence, or 2 percent, to 46.60 pence a therm, according to Bloomberg data compiled by Bloomberg. That’s equal to $7.37 a million British thermal units. A therm is 100,000 Btus.
Demand for fuel in Europe through the Interconnector pipeline from the U.K. to Belgium will “remain strong” at the same time as storage operators are reluctant to withdraw until January, potentially making the U.K. gas market undersupplied until December, Deutsche Bank AG analysts Michael Hsueh and Mark Lewis said yesterday in an e-mailed report.
Sustained Qatari liquefied natural gas imports, Norwegian imports and the start of withdrawals from Centrica Plc.’s Rough gas store will boost supplies in the first quarter of next year, they said.
“While upside risks remain in the fourth quarter, we believe there is significant downside in the first quarter,” the analysts said.
Gas also gained as crude oil advanced, following reports of an increase in Chinese manufacturing and a decline in U.S. supplies that bolstered speculation fuel demand in the world’s two biggest energy consumers will rise. Brent crude for November settlement gained as much as 1.1 percent to $79.59 a barrel on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange.
Most gas sold by producers such as OAO Gazprom and Statoil ASA in mainland Europe is linked to the price of oil. These costs feed into Britain through physical links to the U.K. market via pipelines from Belgium and the Netherlands.
U.K. electricity prices tracked the higher natural gas market. Next-month power prices rose to their highest since July 16, advancing as much as 1.3 percent to 43.30 pounds a megawatt hour. Bloomberg tracks over-the-counter prices by brokers including Spectron Group Ltd. and ICAP Plc.
To contact the reporter on this story: Lars Paulsson in London at lpaulsson@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Stephen Voss at sev@bloomberg.net
New Government Scheme to Aid Small Businesses Become Greener
efficiency the Government is preparing a multi-billion pound fund that will
help more than 4m businesses across the land to become "greener". Small Businesses Become Greener
The main idea behind this scheme is to finance loans to small and middle
sized businesses so they can replace energy hungry equipment with more
energy efficient ones improving their overall business
energy efficiency. The loans will then be repaid from the savings made
in their energy bills. Entitled "The Green Deal for Business" the scheme is a joint venture between
the private and public sector. White hall representatives are discussing
with high street banks and business energy providers such as British Gas how
to generate the funds and administer it. http://www.catalyst-commercial.co.uk/blog/latest-news/businesses-become-gree
ner/