Snapshot - 03 July 2026
Gas markets firmed again on Thursday, with UK day-ahead prices settling just under 104 pence per therm and winter contracts approaching 109 pence. Norwegian maintenance, a European storage build running around ten percentage points behind last year and the steady pull of LNG cargoes towards Asia are keeping the curve well supported, even though the UK system itself remains comfortably balanced day to day.
Power told a more dramatic story. After a Thursday in which wind supplied nearly half of British generation and crushed spot prices, day-ahead baseload rebounded sharply to almost £90 per megawatt hour as wind eases out of the forecast. Winter contracts held near £98 per megawatt hour, supported by the UK nuclear outage stack and firmer gas, while recovering French nuclear output helped keep continental prices steady.
In the wider complex, Brent steadied above $71 per barrel after a week of losses, coal edged higher and carbon split, with UK allowances firmer while EU permits drifted. Attention now turns to weekend wind delivery, the pace of European storage injections and thinner trading conditions over the US holiday.
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