LONDON: Prompt natural gas prices in Britain rose on Thursday morning on the back of an undersupplied system.
Prices for within-day delivery were trading at 49.95 pence per therm at 0948 GMT, up 0.95 pence or since their last settlement. Prices for delivery on Friday were up 0.80 pence at 49.80 pence per therm.
With supply flows at about 146.7 million cubic metres (mcm) per day on Thursday and demand expected to be about 159.1 mcm, the system was 12.4 mcm undersupplied, National Grid data showed.
Traders said prices were also likely to be affected by any significant changes to the value of sterling as a result of the Scottish referendum.
Which currency an independent Scotland would use has been a major bone of contention and the uncertainty over this and other issues has helped push the pound down around 2.5 percent against the dollar this month. Further falls are expected if Scots vote "Yes" to independence.
A weaker pound could be bullish for gas prices as European companies would charge more for the fuel to offset the lower receipts in sterling.
Further along the curve the Winter 2014 contract was up 0.40 pence at 59.85 pence per therm.
Prices on the curve were supported by the ongoing threat to European supplies of gas from Russia this winter, traders said.
The European Commission has proposed to hold gas talks with Ukraine and Russia on Sept.27 to gain more claity on the situation.
Russia's Gazprom said on Wednesday it is unable to meet rising gas demand from Europe while it builds up stockpiles ahead of winter.
Slovakia, Poland, Romania and Austria have all reported slight falls in shipments in recent days from Russia.
Poland's gas pipeline operator Gaz-System said on Thursday the country received similar volumes of natural gas on Wednesday as in the previous days from the eastern supply route, and it was still less than gas importer PGNiG requested.
In the previous days, Poland received about 19-20 million cubic metres of gas per day from the eastern route.
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