September 2016 through October 2016
Prices began to move upwards at the tail end of September with October showing the worst period of movement, the pound lost further value against the Euro after Theresa May announced that she would trigger article 50 by the end of March 17
Prices began to move upwards at the tail end of September with October showing the worst period of movement, the pound lost further value against the Euro after Theresa May announced that she would trigger article 50 by the end of March 17, at the time OPEC said that it aimed to reduce oil output which increased scepticism in the market, there were talks of strikes at a major facility in Norway that caused further issues for the UK which relies on flows from this country, prices were further impacted by tightness in the National Grid power system – during this time the pound is further weakening against the Dollar, a cold winter was also predicted back on the 7th of October.
Prices weakened following continued news that wind & solar generation was at good levels & news that a major Russian producer will not cut or freeze its oil production – similar story through to the 17th. Unplanned Nuclear outages/decommissioning in France & colder weather in Continental Europe were threatening to drive prices higher in October. Going towards November & the UK being more reliant on its French counterpart due to tight supply margins for Winter prices continued to move up to levels we hadn’t seen in years.
Continuing lead up to a major OPEC meeting in November about production cuts were causing more uncertainty in the market.
NHH & HH supply contract rates jumped from 8-10 ppkWh to 11-13 ppkWh and 14+ in some areas of the country – some suppliers would not quote throughout this period as prices were being pulled so quickly, gas whilst higher than at the low point at the start of the year – was still at what we considered to be a favourable rate for customers.
2016 was a year that saw large price increases. From the March April lows following a 6 month period of price falls through Brexit and currency fluctuations to energy supply issues and cold winter snaps. We have seen some dramatic movement throughout the year. The drama hasn't subsided into January either with some changes required at Europe's largest gas field.