Small domestic supplier GB Energy Supply ceased trading pointing to recent increases in energy prices.

There are now over 40 energy suppliers in the market raising concerns that other suppliers could follow suit. Some new entrants in the market have attracted customers with long term fixed rate deals taking advantage of lower prices earlier this year, but recent sharp wholesale price increases expose suppliers to risk if they have not hedged their energy purchases.

The French energy supplier Engie (formerly GDF Suez) is planning to enter the UK domestic power market in 2017.

Gas storage at the Rough facility is still operating at a reduced capacity and the market awaits an announcement from Centrica with a date when normal operations will resume.

One LNG cargo arrived into the UK last week and only one is expected from Qatar in the next week.

The weather forecast predicts temperatures slightly above seasonal norms into December following a sharp cold snap predicted for beginning of this week.

Day ahead power prices increased last week and the risk of French nuclear power stations not returning to full production until January is fuelling price volatility.

The UK exported more electricity than it imported on 14 days during October.

Oil prices increased marginally last week.

OPEC is due to meet on Wednesday to progress discussions to cap crude oil production by up to 800,000 bpd for 6 months from January 2017.

Article by: Richard Clayton