Pricewatch | 14 Sep 2020 | Gas Matters Today

Brent crude was dragged below USD 40/barrel on Friday for the second time in three days, as market sentiment remained bearish on macro-economic concerns, growing global fuel stockpiles and ongoing weakness in oil demand recovery. Friday saw Brent crude rack up its first back-to-back weekly losses since the April price rout, closing at USD 39.83/barrel – down 0.6% in the session and 7% week-on-week. US crude benchmark WTI followed suit by closing at USD 37.33/barrel – up 0.1% in the session but down 6% on the week.

US natural gas benchmark Henry Hub lost 2.3% on Friday to close at USD 2.27/MMBtu on cooler weather forecasts and lower demand outlook heading into October. Bullish sentiment from rising demand for feed gas from US Gulf coast LNG projects post-Hurricane Laura was quelled by the prospects of fresh shut-ins potentially arising as Tropical Storm Sally strengthened off the Florida coast. The storm is expected to reach hurricane-strength today and is already disrupting oil and gas production in the Gulf of Mexico.

European gas hubs NBP and TTF moved only marginally on Friday, with October-dated contracts closing at the equivalent of USD 3.55/MMBtu and USD 3.64/MMBtu. CME’s JKM futures contract was unchanged at USD 4.31/MMBtu.

The European carbon price weakened slightly, with the month-ahead futures contract for ETS carbon allowances (EUAs) dropping 0.6% to EUR 28.24/tonne.

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.