Prompt prices drifted marginally lower Thursday morning on the UK's NBP gas trading hub as the system was well supplied, while far curve contracts were supported by stronger Brent crude.
The within-day contract was trading at 54.20 pence/therm at midday in London, down by 0.10 p/th from the end of the previous session.
The day-ahead shed 0.15 p/th at 54.25 p/th.
Lower flows from Norway were registered during the morning, with 40 million cubic meters/day via the Langeled pipeline, but stronger Dutch flows and steady LNG output kept the system well supplied, a market analyst said.
Forecast demand by National Grid at midday was 192 million cu m with the system finely balanced.
The Dutch BBL pipeline was flowing at 13 million cu m/d and the South Hook LNG terminal was adding 21 million cu m/d to the system.
The analyst also pointed out that while Langeled flows have been lower Thursday morning, "the recent trend in flows from Norway has seen increases during the afternoon."
The front month and quarter contracts heard similar movements, falling by 0.05 p/th and 0.15 p/th to 53.75 p/th and 60.60 p/th, respectively.
Winter 12 tracked the very marginal losses to the prompt, shedding 0.05 p/th at 63.05 p/th, while bullish crude propped up later dated contracts.
Crude futures were higher in morning European trading Thursday, having earlier climbed to their highest levels since the end of May amid heightened geopolitical tensions.
At 0950 GMT, the September ICE Brent crude contract traded 95 cents higher at $106.11/barrel.
An escalation of the civil conflict in Syria and an attack on Israeli tourists in Bulgaria were cited as catalysts for the stronger Brent.
Summer and Winter 13 gas contracts rose by 0.10 p/th and 0.40 p/th to 57.80 p/th and 67.15 p/th, respectively.
