LONDON, United Kingdom (Reuters):

A new pipeline linking the Netherlands to Britain on Monday pumped its first gas supplies to the United Kingdom, Europe's biggest market for the fuel.

The Balgzand-Bacton (BBL) pipeline, one of several new import projects to boost gas supplies to Britain, delivered test flows at a rate of about 16 million cubic metres (mcm) per day, data from the U.K.'s National Grid showed.

The 500-million euro BBL line, which comes ashore at Bacton in east England, is scheduled to start full commercial flows on December 1. It will have a maximum capacity of 16 billion cubic metres a year, about 16 per cent of U.K. demand.

Britain needs extra gas to make up for declining production from its ageing North Sea fields. A new pipeline from Norway, the Langeled project, came on stream last month.

BBL is a joint venture between Dutch gas grid company Gasunie, Germany's E.ON Ruhrgas and Belgian grid operator Fluxys.

This week's test flows ahead of the commercial launch will go to Centrica, the U.K.'s biggest supplier, an industry source said last week. Centrica has a deal to import eight bcm a year via BBL.

Spot gas prices in the U.K. dipped after the BBL test flows started, a trader said. Gas for delivery on Monday traded at 19.75 pence a therm, down 18 pence from the previous close.

Last month spot prices turned negative, forcing suppliers to pay for the right to pump gas into the grid, after the launch of the Langeled line.