Pricewatch | 10 Nov 2020 | Gas Matters Today

Crude oil prices soared on Monday and continued rising early on Tuesday after Pfizer announced promising results from clinical trials of a coronavirus vaccine that appears to inhibit the onset of Covid-19 in people exposed to Sars-Cov-2. Brent climbed 7.5% to USD 42.40/barrel and WTI gained 8.5% to hit USD 40.29/barrel, the US benchmark’s first foray above the USD 40/barrel threshold since 22 October 2020. Both Brent and WTI opened around 1% higher on Tuesday on sustained hopes that a vaccine could lift oil demand in 2021.

The prospect of a gradual end to pandemic-related restrictions on movement also seemed to buoy the European carbon price, as month-ahead ETS allowance (EUA) futures rose 4.4% to close at EUR 26.55/tonne – a four-week high.

US gas benchmark Henry Hub’s front month contract fell another 1% to close the session at USD 2.86/MMBtu, while European gas hubs UK NBP and Dutch TTF fell marginally in yesterday’s session. CME’s December-dated JKM futures contract was unchanged at USD 6.91/MMBtu.

Front-month futures and indexes at last close with day-on-day changes (click to enlarge):

Time references based on London GMT. Brent, WTI, NBP, TTF and EU CO₂ data from ICE. Henry Hub, JKM and API2 data from CME. Prices in USD/MMBtu based on exchange rates at last market close. All monetary values rounded to nearest whole cent/penny. Text and graphic copyright © Gas Strategies, all rights reserved.