Energy Market Report - 23 April 2026
European gas and UK power extended a third consecutive day of gains as escalation in the Strait of Hormuz and a fragile US-Iran ceasefire kept a firm bid under the wider energy complex. Brent has rallied close to 13 per cent since Friday's close, dragging gas, power and coal higher in sympathy, while carbon diverged lower.
Natural Gas
NBP day-ahead settled yesterday at 108.50 p/therm, up 2.00 on the session, while TTF day-ahead gained €1.08 to €43.74/MWh. Reports of Iranian attacks on three commercial vessels in the Strait of Hormuz and the seizure of two more kept risk premium elevated, with European LNG regasification falling to 248 mcm/day as participants grew wary of Persian Gulf cargo flows. Norwegian exit nominations sit at 306.4 mcm/day this morning, with Langeled up 6 mcm/day following the end of a one-day unplanned outage at Aasta Hansteen, although scheduled Vesterled maintenance continues into early May. NBP Win-26 settled at 109.41 p/therm, up 4.24 on the day, with Sum-27 at 84.70 p/therm. EU aggregate storage nudged higher to 30.70 per cent as injections continued despite the price rally. JKM for June delivery rose to $16.13/MMBtu as Asian buyers including South Korea, Japan, Pakistan and Bangladesh began curtailing gas-fired generation to protect domestic supply.
Electricity
UK day-ahead baseload settled at £94.00/MWh, up £15.86 on the session, with peak up £24.26 to £86.20/MWh. UK wind generation is forecast at around 7 GW for the remainder of this week and next, well below seasonal norm, with gas-for-power demand expected to rise 2 mcm/day tomorrow as wind speeds ease further. Win-26 baseload settled at £93.05/MWh, up £2.11, with Cal-27 around £79.09/MWh. Nuclear availability remains tight after Heysham 2 had its full capacity return pushed back to 27 April, with further planned outages at Torness starting today. An auction for 75 MW of BritNed capacity in the GB to NL direction opens today. On the Continent, German Cal-27 baseload reached its highest level since early April, tracking THE gas higher and reflecting the continued phase-out of coal and lignite generation.
Other Commodities
Brent M+1 settled at $101.91/bbl, up $3.43 on the session and around 12.8 per cent above Friday's close, while WTI rose 3.67 per cent to $92.96/bbl. Coal ARA CIF Cal-27 added $2.32 to $113.86/tonne on concerns that a prolonged Persian Gulf disruption could squeeze global gas-fired generation and lift coal burn. Carbon diverged from the broader complex, with EUA Dec-26 down €1.29 to €74.41/tonne and UK ETS Dec-26 falling £1.52 to £47.61/tonne, leaving the UKA discount to EUAs little changed. JKM for June delivery was assessed at $16.13/MMBtu, up on the session amid Asian supply concerns. Sterling was broadly steady at 1.1507 against the euro and 1.3501 against the dollar, with no meaningful move versus the wider complex.