Snapshot - 30 April 2026
Wholesale gas and power firmed sharply on Wednesday and into Thursday morning as geopolitical tension over the US blockade of the Strait of Hormuz drove a fresh risk premium into the energy complex. NBP Win-26 traded around 119.50 p/therm in early business, up roughly 6 p/therm against Wednesday morning, after the prior session settled 7.80 p/therm higher at 118.10 p/therm. UK Win-26 baseload power followed, indicative around £100/MWh from a £98.73/MWh settlement.
Crude was the most aggressive mover. Brent settled at $118.03 per barrel, up over 6 per cent on the day and 15 per cent on the week, briefly touching four-year highs above $126 in early Thursday trade before correcting. Coal added 3.67 per cent on Wednesday and held near $122 per tonne for Cal-27. Carbon, by contrast, traded sharply lower as the EU adopted a new state-aid framework that allows member states to subsidise consumer power costs, with EUAs falling around €1.90 to €73.20 per tonne and UKAs down £2.27 to £49.45 per tonne.
UK day-ahead power was the standout in the other direction, settling at £53.39/MWh - down £13.13/MWh - as five hours of negative N2EX prices on Wednesday reflected strong wind and solar output. With mild weather across the next week, Norwegian maintenance ramping up, and a heavy UK nuclear outage schedule from early May, the spread between prompt softness and forward-curve strength looks set to widen.
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