London (Platts)--14Dec2012/812 am EST/1312 GMT

Gas prices on the Dutch and German prompt markets fell on Friday as milder-than-expected temperatures kept demand for gas heating lower, while the forward curve saw small day-on-day gains on strong crude prices.

Day-ahead gas contracts on the Netherlands' TTF trading hub declined to Eur27.20/MWh by midday Friday, down by 20 euro cent from the previous close.

Similarly, the German NetConnect day-ahead contracts changed hands at Eur27.30/MWh, shedding 15 euro cent in value from Thursday's close. The German GASPOOL next day gas lost 10 euro cent on the day to trade at Eur27.40/MWh.

Forecaster CustomWeather data showed that temperatures are set to remain mild, hovering near seasonal norms. Amsterdam, Brussels and Paris are expected to reach 3 degrees Celsius above seasonal averages on Saturday.

Article continues below...

Request a free trial of: European Gas Daily
	European Gas Daily is a flagship Platts publication that delivers crucial competitive intelligence across the entire European gas marketplace. It keeps you ahead of critical price changes and their effects on the industry -- to help you make informed market decisions.

Dusseldorf and Frankfurt that are currently experiencing below freezing temperatures are likely to rise 2 deg C above zero next week, CustomWeather data showed.

On the curve, the forward contracts recovered slightly on bullish sentiment in the crude oil markets. Better-than-expected Chinese manufacturing data boosted sentiment on the oil markets and pushed up ICE Brent January crude up by 85 cents at 1025 GMT to $108.76/barrel.

The TTF January gas was trading at Eur27.45/MWh, edging up 5 euro cent in value on the day, while the front-quarter contracts also added 5 euro cent on the day to Eur27.45/MWh.

The Cal 13 contract edged up 5 euro cents on the day to change hands at Eur27.20/MWh.

Tweet