British and Dutch gas prices were mixed on Friday due to profit taking following recent bullishness and as EU energy ministers failed to agree on a gas price cap and cooler, less windy weather increased demand for heating.

The Dutch benchmark front-month contract TRNLTTFMc1 rose 0.5 euros to 122.85 euros per megawatt/hour (euros/MWh) by 1003 GMT, Refinitiv Eikon data showed.

The Dutch January contract TRNLTTFMc2 rose by 1.35 euros to 128.30 euros/MW while the contract for February TRNLTTFMc3 was down 0.20 euros at 129.20 euros/MWh.

A European gas trader said he expects the market to end the day slightly higher due to strong demand because of colder weather.

“LNG is still plentiful but we’ve started to withdraw (from gas storage sites) and that should mean higher prices,” he said.

Other bullish factors that are expected to support prices include colder temperature forecasts and the ongoing uncertainty around Russian flows via Ukraine.

EU energy ministers failed to agree on a gas price cap on Thursday, and postponed adoption of other European Commission proposals such as a joint gas purchasing and fast-tracking renewable permits to a meeting slated for Dec. 13.

Eastbound gas flows through the Yamal-Europe pipeline to Poland from Germany rose on Friday, while Russian supplies to Europe via Ukraine .

In the British gas market, the day-ahead contract TRGBNBPD1 was up by 6 pence at 160 p/therm according to Refinitiv Eikon data due to a strong increase in gas for power demand due to lower windspeeds.

The British gas system was 8.4 million cubic meters undersupplied on Friday, according to National Grid data.

Peak wind generation was expected at 14.8 gigawatts on Friday out of a total metered capacity of almost 20 GW, Elexon data showed.

In the European carbon market, the benchmark contract CFI2Zc1 was up 1.32 euro at 79.59 euros a tonne.
Source: Reuters (Reporting By Marwa Rashad; Editing by Susanna Twidale)