Prompt gas prices on Continental Europe's trading hubs edged higher Friday morning, in line with the UK NBP, while rangebound oil kept later dated contracts stable.
At midday UK time, gas for next-day delivery at the Dutch TTF was seen at Eur27.55/MWh, up 15 euro cent from the close on Thursday.
Similarly, the day-ahead contract on the neighboring German GASPOOL hub was up by 15 euro cent at Eur27.60/MWh, while on the German NetConnect it was seen 5 euro cent higher at Eur27.50/MWh.
An exception was the French PEG Nord day-ahead contract which was seen trading at Eur27.50/MWh, down 10 euro cent from Thursday.
The December TTF contract was seen changing hands at Eur27.50/MWh, up 15 euro cent.
Traders said unexpected high demand at the UK helped support the NBP Friday morning, although National Grid data showed that, at 1100 GMT, the UK system was finely balanced, with forecast demand at 265.9 million cubic meters and forecast flows at 266.8 million cu m.
According to operator Gassco, at 1200 GMT, Norwegian flows into the German and Dutch system were stable, totaling 140 million cu m.
Similarly, Norwegian gas imports into France through the Dunkirk beach terminal stood at 41.6 million cu m.
Data by forecaster CustomWeather showed that temperatures across the region should stay a few degrees above the seasonal norm until at least Thursday, which should limit demand on the Continent. 10/4 degrees Celsius were forecast for Berlin over the weekend and 11/6 degrees C for Amsterdam and Paris.
Meanwhile, rangebound oil kept later dated contracts stable, with January Brent crude down, at 0940 GMT, 22 cents to $110.33/barrel.
Front-quarter prices on the TTF were up 10 euro cent at Eur27.80/MWh, while the Summer 13 contract was seen flat to Thursday's assessment of Eur26.75/MWh.
The TTF Cal 13 contract was seen 5 euro cent higher at Eur27.40/MWh.
