Snapshot - 07 September 2026
UK gas finished last week higher and has opened this one sharply higher again. Friday's session added a few pence across the curve on tighter Norwegian supply and low European inventories, and this morning the market has gapped up several pence more after US and Iranian forces exchanged strikes on shipping over the weekend. Crude has pushed toward $98/bbl and traffic through the Strait of Hormuz has slowed to its weakest pace since May.
The physical backdrop offers little comfort. Norwegian restrictions are deepening, with a further cut at Kollsnes beginning tomorrow on top of an already heavy planned maintenance programme, though flows to the UK have improved with the return of one field. European storage sits around two thirds full, with Germany at a historic low, and a possible strike at a French import terminal in mid-September adds another prompt risk. The winter contract now trades at more than double its level of a year ago and has gained around forty per cent in a month.
Power continues to split. Prompt prices settled at their lowest of the period on Friday as wind reached its highest level since May and supplied more than half the GB mix, while forward contracts held broadly steady or firmed. Over the weekend the market swung by more than £250/MWh in a single day, spending the morning deeply negative before ramping into a strong evening peak. This morning has been firm and short throughout.
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