Prices in the wholesale energy market continued to rise last month, with the Bord Gáis Energy Index increasing by 3% to stand at 146 points.
The rise is due to the conflict in Libya and other North African and Middle Eastern countries, along with the Japanese earthquake and tsunami on March 11. The index has now risen in five of the last six months.
The index tracks movements in the wholesale energy market and is made up of the four key energy commodities of oil, gas, coal and electricity.
Bord Gáis said that the oil element of the index rose by 2% to 152.09, with Brent oil prices over $5 higher in March than in February. Brent oil prices rose by 17% in the first quarter of this year, the biggest quarterly gain in almost two years.
Natural gas prices rose by 8% in the month due to the impact of the earthquake in Japan, which caused the shutdown of over 25% of all nuclear power generation capacity for the foreseeable future.
The Japanese earthquake was also a factor behind a 3% increase in the coal element of the index. Coal prices rose to over $130 a tonne after the quake because of expectations that coal fired power plants would fill the generation gap caused by the shutdown of the nuclear plants. But prices retreated towards the end of the month as six coal plants in Japan were damaged which reduced demand by 18 million tonnes.
The electricity element of the index is up 5% due to increased fuel prices as natural gas and coal prices rose. Decreased wind output and plant availability issues were also behind the increase.
'Consumers are likely to see an increase in energy prices as the rise in wholesale energy prices is expected to push up domestic energy prices,' Bord Gáis energy trading analyst Michael Kelleher warned.
