Prompt contracts on the Continental European gas markets retraced their steps Friday morning to recover the previous day's losses and move further into positive territory as a cold weekend approaches.
"Weather is the main driver at the moment," a trader said.
"But we need to remember that it is the beginning of the winter season and storage is very full, so we're approaching the cold from a very comfortable position," he added.
The Dutch TTF day-ahead lifted 85 euro cent from Thursday's close to change hands midday at Eur22.95/MWh, while German contracts moved above the Eur23.00/MWh mark.
The German NetConnect day-ahead traded up 70 euro cent to Eur23.10/MWh, while the GASPOOL contract heard gains of 25 euro cent to Eur23.50/MWh midday.
Temperatures in Germany are set to sink 3 degrees Celsius below the seasonal norm of 5-14 degrees C, said CustomWeather, with mild temperatures returning Wednesday.
The French PEG Nord contract followed neighboring hubs up trading slightly below the NCG at Eur23.05/MWh, up 55 euro cent from its last close.
By midday the UK NBP system was 11 million cubic meters long, according to data from National Grid.
Exports from the Netherlands to the UK through the BBL pipeline turned down 5 million cu m to 11 million cu m/day, while imports through the UK-Belgium Interconnector remain strong at 57.6 million cu m/day.
The TTF front month firmed 15 euro cent on bullish sentiment on the prompt, while forward curve gas ticked up in line with rising crude.
At 0900 GMT, November ICE Brent was up $1.18 at $112.29/barrel supporting gains of 10 euro cent on the TTF Cal 12 which rose to Eur26.40/MWh midday.
