British wholesale gas for day-ahead delivery breached 3 pounds/therm for the first time on Wednesday morning amid an extended global energy market rally.
The British day-ahead contract rose by 0.41 pounds, or 14.7%, to a new all-time high of 3.20 pounds/therm by 0807 GMT.
Both British and Dutch wholesale gas prices have experienced fresh surges this week due to low gas stocks, lower supply from Russia, colder temperatures, lower wind output and lower generation from some French nuclear plants due to a strike.
Dutch wholesale gas at the TTF hub broke the 100 euro level yesterday and the front-month contract is now trading at around 138.60 euros per megawatt hour.
“Low gas inventories across the globe as winter approaches have been pushing up demand in the physical market whilst supplies have been slower to respond,” said analysts at ING.
But European energy commissioner Kadri Simson said on Wednesday that EU countries have enough gas in storage to last through winter, and the surge in prices shows the need to quickly switch to renewable sources and reform the EU gas market.
