Energy Commodities: 02/03/10

Unless stated otherwise, all prices are for the close of March 1.

Brent crude oil futures: US$76.91/bbl, up 0.0 per cent, as of GMT 9:00, March 2

WTI crude oil futures: US$78.69/bbl, no change, as of GMT 9:00, March 2

German power: €47.80/MWh, up 0.63 per cent

Coal: €95.65/t, up 1.23 per cent

Natural gas: GB 31.70p/therm, down 2.31 per cent

EUAs for December 2010 delivery: €13.33/t, up 2.54 per cent

CERs for December 2010 delivery: €11.84/t, up 2.60 per cent

Latest buzz
Crude oil over in the US has given up some ground as a result of a stronger dollar and expectations of a further rise in crude inventories. The EIA is due to release its “This week in Petroleum” report tomorrow at 10:30am EST, while the American Petroleum Institute will be releasing its data for the week ended February 26 later today. A Dow Jones poll of eight analysts had them predicting on average a 700,000bbl gain in crude inventories, along with a 600,000bbl rise in gasoline stocks. However distillates inventories are expected to decline by 300,000bbl.
Natural gas prices have also dropped back, due to traders factoring in the change in the seasons, along with expectations of increasing domestic production on the back of shale gas projects. NYMEX natural gas for April delivery closed down US¢13.4 (2.78 per cent) at US$4.679/mBtu on March 1. It had briefly risen as high as US$4.869/mBtu due to earlier predictions of colder weather.

In Europe, UK natural gas followed a similar pattern to that in the US, dropping 2.31 per cent on the back of milder forecasts. However, predictions of cold weather in Germany have boosted power prices in that country.  Meanwhile EUAs have continued to rise in value as despite the fact that 75 per cent of all 2010 EUA allocations have been made by EU member states, there has not been any large sell off of credits.

European coal prices have risen and in the wider market, there is currently a coal shortage in the Ukraine, while in China, inventories are starting to build again, as the country has emerged from its coldest winter in at least 50 years. As a result coal prices at Qinhuangdao, have dropped to CNY700-710/t for coal with an energy value of 5500kCal/kg, down 2.8 per cent from a week earlier.