The gas system is undersupplied and set to close 5mcm short, according to npower’s daily market report.

The gas demand is expected to be around 14% above seasonal normal levels.

Sarah Astley from npower’s optimisation desk said: “The latest 30-day forecast has increased demand through next week.

“This coupled with the heavy planned Norwegian maintenance schedule could see the system struggle to balance.”

The Interconnector exports have increased to 22mcm. Norwegian flows are at 25mcm and South Hook flows continue at 47mcm.

The power system is comfortable with a peak margin of more than15GW.

Wind generation is less than1GW however it is forecast to increase throughout the day. Nuclear power is generating 7.4GW.

Oil is trading around $66.5 a barrel (£42.1/bbl) which is a week-on-week gain of just over $1.

US Crude stockpiles have fallen from record high levels.

The US government has lowered the crude production growth forecast for 2015 and 2016. This is due to the lower prices and lower rig count.

Ms Astley added: “Tensions in the Gulf are also increasing after Iran fired shots at a Singapore tanker.”