Pricewatch | 22 Nov 2021 | Gas Matters Today

Oil prices slipped to a seven-week low on Friday amid soaring Covid-19 cases in Europe.

The front-month Brent and WTI contracts fell by 2.9% and 3.2% respectively on Friday, with the international benchmark closing below USD 80/barrel for the first time since 1 October. The US crude benchmark settled at USD 75.94/barrel – its lowest close since the start of October.  

Surging Covid-19 cases in Europe are weighing on crude prices, with Austria imposing a national lockdown starting Monday 22 November. Germany is mulling a lockdown as Covid cases continue to soar.  

Oil prices are also falling amid reports suggesting a coordinated release of strategic petroleum reserves by the likes of the US and Japan.

As for gas, Asian LNG marker JKM slipped into the red, with the January-dated contract settling 8.8% lower at USD 34.26/MMBtu.

The loss weighed on European markers TTF and NBP – both of which fell by over 8% on Friday.

The UK gas benchmark closed at the equivalent of USD 29.57/MMBtu. The Dutch marker closed at USD 28.89/MMBtu.

US gas benchmark Henry Hub returned to the USD 5/MMBtu range after closing 3.3% higher to end the week. Robust US LNG exports have helped lift Henry Hub, with feedgas flows to US LNG plants hitting an all-time high of 11.66 Bcf/d on Friday.

The European carbon price hit a fresh record  on Friday, closing 0.4% higher at EUR 69.36/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.