February saw the Bord Gáis Energy index rising to its highest level since September 2008 as the unrest in the Middle East caused oil prices to rise dramatically in the second half of the month.
The index rose by 5% to 140 as the combined reductions in natural gas, coal and electricity prices failed to offset the 11% rise in oil prices - the largest since May 2009.
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.
'Oil prices in January and February have risen dramatically above other energy commodity prices, as a result of social unrest in North Africa and the Middle east, indicating that the high prices could be short lived,' commented John Heffernan, energy trading analyst at Bord Gáis Energy.
'Although gas prices have proved resilient to the current upheaval, if oil prices continue to trade at high levels, gas prices are likely to increase,' he cautioned.
Bord Gáis said that the oil element of the index rose by 10% to 149 with Brent crude prices the main driver of the increase. The unrest in Libya led to reports of production being cut from 1.6 million barrels a day to between 400,000 and 800,000 a day.
Natural gas prices continued to fall last month due to a steady rise in temperatures, strong deliveries of liquefied natural gas to the UK and lower demand.
High stock levels in Europe and the warmer weather saw coal prices stabilise in February after the big rises in January due to the flooding in Queensland in Australia.
The electricity element of the index is down 5% as a result of record breaking wind generation and a drop in demand. Power generation capacity exceeded demand, the index noted.
