Time is running out for energy companies that have to work out if they will be included or exempted by upcoming financial rules that will make some of them operate like banks. The European Commission in December published long-awaited rules on the two tests that energy firms will have to carry out to see if […]
Energy Connections
No alternative: Europe’s low-carbon energy transition will come of age in 2017
“Alternative energy”. Is that still a common phrase? In some quarters, it is. In a recent New York Times Trump-themed article, the phrase was in the headline, while market operator Nasdaq continues to publish a monthly Alternative Energy Stock Outlook. In July 2016, the phrase even snuck into an ICIS article. But this is 2017. […]
Should the EU get tough on the gas network codes?
Following the recent publication of the EU Agency for the Cooperation of Energy Regulators’ (ACER) annual reports on the implementation of two of the five gas network codes, it has become clear to some in the European gas industry that, at this stage, the EU’s vision of a single energy market is still something of […]
2016 – for LNG it was the year that wasn’t
The long-awaited surge of new global LNG production has not led to the widely-expected and sustained oversupply in the market, at least so far in 2016. The expected end of European reloads as a result of more production starting up in both Atlantic and Pacific basins has also not come to pass. ICIS spot prices […]
Ballast bonuses sink shipping activity
The cancellation of two planned LNG vessel charters in Europe this week shows that it’s becoming harder and harder to get hold of an LNG carrier at the right price in the Atlantic Basin. Danish energy company DONG and Swiss trader Glencore were both in discussions with ship owners about chartering vessels for reloads in […]
A crazy week in UK power. But will the madness return this winter?
In recent days, UK power has been a crazy energy market to trade in. Late in the day on 14 September, a 50MW, £105.00/MWh front-week trade – a transaction worth nearly £900,000 – was down almost 10% at £95.00/MWh, £100,000 wiped off its value, within just 35 minutes. In terms of jaw-dropping potential, this was […]
What’s in a name? That which we call a Bulgarian hub
Bulgaria and the European Commission have recently been announcing, with much fanfare, the country is investing in a natural gas hub. Or the Balkan Gas Hub, to give it its formal title. The crescendo of statements about this Balkan hub reached their zenith last week at a roundtable over which Bulgaria’s prime minister Boyko Borissov […]
This winter it really is about the weather
The cliche about weather driving energy prices, in particular on European gas and Asian LNG, is just as relevant this year as ever before. A mild weather with no extended periods of freezing cold in Europe could see forward gas prices steadily ease down despite fears over a lack of gas storage in the UK […]
Time for change: The expiry of Gazprom contracts in eastern Europe
While all eyes are turned to Russia’s natural gas pipeline projects – Nord Stream II, TurkStream and South Stream – which it intends to build in Europe in the upcoming years, comparatively less attention is paid to imminent changes that are set to reconfigure gas markets in eastern Europe and Turkey. The transformations are being […]
Gas market link-ups in the Balkans are high on this summer’s agenda
South east European gas markets represent something of a ‘final frontier’ for energy companies and politicians alike, the former seeking out new business opportunities and the latter trying to promote greater security of supply and competitiveness. This summer several developments have turned the spotlight back onto the area, dangling the promise of greater gas interconnectivity […]
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