Energy commodities: 04/02/10

Unless stated otherwise, all prices are for the close of February 3.

Brent crude oil futures: US$75.30/bbl, down 0.8 per cent, as of GMT 9:00, February 4
WTI crude oil futures: US$76.42, down 0.6 per cent, as of GMT 9.00, February 4
German power: €48.50/MWh, down 0.06 per cent
Coal: €93.25/t, no change
Natural Gas: GB 35.60p/therm, down 0.28 per cent
EUAs for December 10 delivery: €12.75/t, up 0.08 per cent
CERs for December 10 delivery: €11.22/t, up 0.09 per cent

Latest buzz
Oil prices have briefly spiked to above US$77/bbl on the back of stronger US economic data, but this was quickly brought back to less heady levels by a combination of profit-taking and the release of oil inventory data from the EIA, indicating that US crude demand has fallen in the past week. The latter news took the market somewhat by surprise, given that analysts polled by Platts had been expecting a 1mbbl decline in stocks. Instead, crude oil inventories rose by 2.3mbbl for the week ended January 29. However, this was less than the 4.7mbbl rise predicted by the American Petroleum Institute.

Over in Europe, the wider energy complex has seen little movement, with UK natural gas witnessing the largest change at a mere 0.28 per cent. Some positive news has come in for the longer-term CER supply outlook as UNEP Risoe, the Danish research organisation, has downwardly revised its forecast. It now expects 1.05bn CERs to be issued by the end of 2012, 41m less than its previous forecast. In way of contrast, the EUA market looks like it will become less tight, given the announcement from the European Investment Bank that it will sell 200m EUAs in 2011, to generate funding for carbon capture and sequestration projects.