Crude prices fell on Wednesday as Middle East supply risks eased. Prices plummeted after Iranian media confirmed safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz and President Trump announced advanced U.S.-Iran peace talks. This bearish geopolitical shift masked a massive weekly drop in U.S. crude inventories. Hence, Brent crude plunged by 5.6% to $105.02 a barrel, while WTI crude slumped by 5.7% to $98.26 per barrel.
The NBP spot contract dropped by 4.6% to 126 p/therm. A turn toward warmer weather and normal early June temperatures across the continent fuelled the decline, brushing off a drop in Norwegian flows due to seasonal maintenance.
Further along the curve, the Winter 2026 contract shed 3.2% of its value, dropping to 122 p/therm. Market optimism regarding the Middle East triggered widespread risk-premium unwinding across the longer-dated contracts.
European spot electricity prices rose on Wednesday. The German day-ahead contract gained 0.2% to 109.15 EUR/MWh on forecasts of dropping wind generation. Meanwhile, the French equivalent contract soared by over 31% to 60.53 EUR/MWh after EDF extended the maintenance outage at its 910 MW Blayais 3 nuclear reactor by three days.
In the forward market, price action was mixed as traders balanced a softer wholesale gas outlook against rising carbon benchmarks. The German 2027 delivery contract declined by 0.6% to 92.72 EUR/MWh, while the French equivalent contract gained 0.3% to 55.93 EUR/MWh.
European carbon markets found modest technical support on Wednesday from an empty auction calendar. Fresh commitment of traders data highlighted that speculative positions have flattened, signalling that the broader market is likely to remain gridlocked between the 72 and 78 EUR/tonne thresholds for the foreseeable future. As a result, the EUAs expiring in Dec-2026 edged 0.6% higher at 75.40 EUR/tonne.
May 21, 2026