Energy Market Briefing

Wednesday 16 September 2026 · Generated 11:15 BST · Past 24 hours

UK gas and power eased back from Monday's surge as hopes grew that Saudi Arabia's damaged pipeline could reopen within days, even as Riyadh halted loadings at its main Red Sea port after fresh Houthi strikes.

UK Gas▼

NBP Win-26 fell 2.9% at Tuesday's close

UK Power▼

Power eased 3.1%, tracking gas lower

EU Storage▲

68.5% full, still well below the seasonal norm

Market bias

Firm, easing from recent highsSofter · Firmer

Gulf supply risk stays high after Saudi halts Yanbu loadings, but hopes of a quick pipeline fix and fresh Beijing diplomacy have taken some heat out of the rally.

UK gas Win-26

6.88p/kWh

-2.9% day-on-day

UK power Win-26

16.11p/kWh

-3.1% day-on-day

EU gas storage

68.5% full

17.6pp below 5yr norm

TTF prompt

79.46EUR/MWh

-0.8% on the day

Brent crude

108.09$/bbl

-0.6% on the day

Today's headlines

1 · MARKETS
UK gas and power eased back at Tuesday's close on hopes Saudi Arabia's damaged pipeline could reopen within days.
Tuesday's close
UK gas Winter-26 fell 2.9% and power 3.1% at Tuesday's close, giving back a chunk of Monday's sharp gains, though both remain far above levels seen before the Gulf crisis began.
Today's trade
Brent crude eased to just above $108 a barrel and European TTF held close to €79.50/MWh in early trade on Wednesday, both little changed after Tuesday's pullback.
Why the reversal
Traders point to US energy secretary Chris Wright's comment that Saudi Arabia's damaged East-West pipeline should be running again within days, plus a fresh round of China-brokered diplomacy, as reasons for the pause in the rally.
2 · SUPPLY
Saudi Arabia halted oil loadings at Yanbu, its main Red Sea port, after fresh Houthi drone strikes deepened the squeeze on its Hormuz bypass route.
Yanbu halted
Saudi Arabia has stopped oil loadings at Yanbu, its main Red Sea export port handling up to 5 million barrels a day, after further Houthi drone strikes hit the pipeline network feeding it.
Pipeline still down
The East-West pipeline that normally carries crude across the kingdom to Yanbu, bypassing the Strait of Hormuz, remains shut following attacks earlier this month. Washington now expects it back within days rather than weeks.
Diplomacy in Beijing
Iran's foreign minister Abbas Araghchi is meeting China's Wang Yi in Beijing today, as Beijing continues efforts to broker an end to the war ahead of a planned Xi-Trump meeting next week.
3 · STORAGE
Germany's state gas buyer SEFE has begun quietly buying gas to refill national storage, reversing weeks of ministerial resistance to state intervention.
Berlin's U-turn
Germany's state-owned gas buyer SEFE has started purchasing gas to lift national storage from just under 56% towards 70% full, according to Handelsblatt, reversing economy minister Katherina Reiche's earlier refusal to intervene for fear of pushing prices higher.
Not everyone convinced
The regulator Bundesnetzagentur says German storage may already be sufficient for winter, and critics accuse the government of turning to the state rather than the market. SEFE says the buying is its own commercial decision, not a ministry instruction.
The wider picture
EU storage stood at 68.5% full in the most recent reading, still around 18 percentage points below the five-year norm for this point in September, underlining why buyers such as SEFE are moving to secure supply ahead of winter.

Forward curve & seasonal movesi

UK powerUK gas NBPmonthly forward, p/kWh · market close on 15 September 2026

15 Sep 2026

Season	Power	Δ	Gas	Δ
Win-26	16.11	-3.11%	6.88	-2.88%
Sum-27	10.71	-2.45%	4.60	-1.47%
Win-27	10.62	-2.25%	4.35	-1.26%
Sum-28	7.08	-1.06%	2.76	+0.07%
Win-28	8.03	-1.27%	3.00	+0.06%
Sum-29	6.76	-2.09%	2.32	+0.99%

Seasonal contracts in p/kWh, change is day on day, as of market close on 15 September 2026.

UK generation mixi

Gas (CCGT + OCGT)7.81 GW23.4%

Wind6.58 GW19.7%

Interconnectors5.64 GW16.9%

Solar4.75 GW14.2%

Nuclear3.33 GW10.0%

Biomass3.24 GW9.7%

Hydro + pumped0.39 GW1.2%

Other1.69 GW5.1%

As of 16 September 2026, 09:40 BST. Tap a fuel or a slice to isolate it, tap again to reset.

EU gas storagei

Now

68.5%

5yr norm

86.1%

-17.6pp vs 5yr normDashed line: 90% winter target

Winter 2026/27 target is 90% of capacity by 1 December, with Commission flexibility down to 80%. As of 14 September 2026.

Other commoditiesi

TTF▼-2.85%JKM▲+0.59%Brent▲+2.90%WTI▲+4.38%UK carbon▼-3.05%EU carbon▼-2.71%FTSE 100▼-0.37%GBPUSD▼-0.16%GBPEUR▼-0.09%Gold▼-0.12%TTF▼-2.85%JKM▲+0.59%Brent▲+2.90%WTI▲+4.38%UK carbon▼-3.05%EU carbon▼-2.71%FTSE 100▼-0.37%GBPUSD▼-0.16%GBPEUR▼-0.09%Gold▼-0.12%

Global gasiTTF▼-2.85%JKM▲+0.59%

OiliBrent▲+2.90%WTI▲+4.38%

CarboniUK carbon▼-3.05%EU carbon▼-2.71%

FTSE 100i▼-0.37%

ForexiGBPUSD▼-0.16%GBPEUR▼-0.09%

Goldi▼-0.12%

Past 6 months of daily closes. As of 15 September 2026. Change shown is the latest close against the previous close.