Energy Markets Weekly: EU Roadmap and Norwegian Maintenance Tighten Outlook

UK and European energy markets surged at the start of May as geopolitical policies and tighter supply conditions overrode softer seasonal demand. Natural gas and power prices posted sharp gains, buoyed by unplanned Norwegian outages, colder-than-average temperatures, and the European Commission’s draft legislation to ban Russian gas imports by end-2025. The gas prompt hit 83.5p/therm while UK baseload surged over 60% week-on-week, closing at £83.71/MWh.