Gas for same-day delivery fell Friday on the UK's NBP trading hub due to low demand but is valued considerably higher for Monday, with temperatures expected to fall and demand rise.
The within-day contract at 1200 GMT was valued at 62.10 pence/therm, down by 0.50 p/th, while the day-ahead contract rose 0.55 p/th to 63.40 p/th.
Forecast demand for the day by National Grid was 70 million cubic meters below seasonal norms at 236 million cu m and the system was operating 7 million cu m long.
Temperatures in London were 4 degrees Celsius above seasonal norms Friday, CustomWeather data showed, but are expected to cool to 1 C above norms on Monday.
National Grid expects UK demand to rise to 280 million cu m on Monday.
On the supply side, imports from Norway via the Vesterled pipeline halved from Thursday, as gas is re-routed towards higher Continental European prices, a market analyst said.
Gas flows to the UK to Norway via the Langeled pipeline, however, remained strong at 68 million cu m/day.
Gas storage facilities continued to inject gas Friday, Platts unit Bentek Energy said.
Gas for February delivery made a modest gain of 0.15 p/th at 66.35 p/th, while later dated contracts held firm steady as the bullish prompt offset the effect of lower oil prices.
Q2 13 was unchanged at 61.90 p/th and Summer 13 edged 0.05 p/th lower at 61.80 p/th.
Winter 13 dropped by 0.10 p/th at 70.40 p/th at 70.40 p/th and Summer 14 was unchanged at 63.20 p/th.
Crude futures extended earlier losses during late morning Europe trade, sinking back to pre-"fiscal cliff" deal levels as concerns about the US political stalemate and ongoing debt discussion inched back into market discussion.
ICE February Brent was down $1.53 at $110.61/barrel at 1150 GMT.
