British and Dutch wholesale gas prices mostly rose on Friday morning as cooler temperatures increased gas demand for heating and as some European countries withdrew gas from storage sites.

The Dutch day-ahead contract rose by 9 euros to 109 euros per megawatt hour (MWh) by 1006 GMT.

In the British gas market, the day-ahead contract rose by 15 pence to 120 pence per therm, while the weekend contract gained 13 pence to 120 p/therm.

“Temperatures continue to decline and are expected to drop below seasonal normal from tomorrow both in the UK and NEW (Northwest Europe),” analysts at Refinitiv said in a daily research note.

Local distribution zone gas demand in Britain, which is primarily used for heating, was forecast at 153 million cubic metres/day (mcm) for Friday, rising to 188 mcm on Monday, Refinitiv Eikon data showed.

The expected demand was 3 mcm and 32 mcm higher, respectively, than previously forecast.

Prices were also buoyed by small withdrawals at some European gas storage sites.

Mild temperatures had allowed Europe to keep filling its gas stores for most of October and the beginning of November but cooler temperatures marked the start of withdrawals this week.

Europe’s gas stocks were 95.38% full according to latest data from Gas Infrastructure Europe, down from a peak of 95.61% on Nov. 13.

In the European carbon market, the benchmark contract CFI2Zc1 was up 0.10 euros at 72.50 euros a tonne.
Source: Reuters (Reporting By Susanna Twidale; Editing by Devika Syamnath)