Crude oil prices had another bearish day, after Donald Trump denied the possibility of an interim U.S.-China trade deal. Comments by OPEC+ alliance that deeper cuts would not be decided before a meeting in December and ECB’s decision to cut its deposit rate also weighed on prices. Hence, Brent crude dropped by 0.7% to close at $60.38 a barrel, while WTI futures lost 1.2% to settle at $55.09 a barrel.
British wholesale gas prices were mixed on Thursday.Uncertainty over the impact of a cut in flows through the Opal pipeline led to a slight decline in the Q4 2019 delivery contract, which ended 0.3% lower at 45.71 p/therm. However, worries about nuclear plant issues in France lent support to the day-ahead price, which spiked by 2.8% to 26.50 p/therm.
European prompt power prices increased on Thursday due to welding anomalies at French nuclear reactors which afected demand in the region. Hence, the German spot power price jumped by 3.3% to close at 39.02 euros/MWh, while the French equivalent contract settled 3.9% higher at 38.84 euros/MWh.
Along the curve, power contracts posted losses on Thursday tracking lower forward gas prices. The German Cal 2020 delivery contract lost 1.5% to close at 50.00 euros/MWh. The equivalent French contract declined by 1.3% to end at 53.00 euros/MWh.
European carbon prices rose slightly supported by the ongoing fears of nuclear outages in France ahead of the winter season. The contract expiring in 2021 traded 0.6% higher at 26.43 euros/tonne.