The natural gas market has seen prices depressed for a while now as investors have contended with a glut in production.

But while one might have expected prices to fall further amid the commodities slump of the past few weeks, long-dated UK natural gas prices have held up relatively well.

Although near-dated prices sold off in tandem with crude prices, longer-dated prices for the winter and next summer have remained more resistant to the commodities sell-off.

Analysts at Bank of America Merrill Lynch said the main reason behind this resilience is supply.

"Domestic gas supplies in the UK are falling precipitously. Competition with Europe over Norwegian and Dutch supplies have heated up in the past months, with Continental Europe absorbing a rising share of North Sea gas supplies."

In the second quarter, production from UK Continental Shelf fell by a record 24% year-on-year, partly as a result of maintenance, but also down to the worsening investment conditions due to the North Sea oil and gas tax raid announced earlier this year.