UK power and gas prices edged down this morning after US-Russian sanctions prompted a rise yesterday, according to a daily market report.

This is partly because gas fundamentals “are very comfortable”, with demand at 154 million cubic meters a little bit lower today ahead of the weekend.

Ben Spry, Optimisation Desk Manager at npower said: “If you remember yesterday quite a lot of premium came into the market bot in the morning and the afternoon and that was on the back of sanctions the US had placed on Russia.”

News of the Malaysian airlines crash over Ukraine on Thursday afternoon also kept up gas prices suggested the analyst.

Today gas flows from UK Continental Shelf are fairly “steady”, as are the BBL pipeline from the Netherlands after an “erratic” supply yesterday.

This is pressuring market prices lower, added Mr Spry.