EUROPE GAS-Prices touch five-month high on US-Iran war and low storage levels
XLE•Carbon prices slip slightly
In the European carbon market, the benchmark contract slipped by €0.13 to €82.32 a metric ton.
Dutch and British gas prices reach five-month highs
Dutch and British gas prices edged higher on Friday morning, touching fresh five-month highs on the lack of progress in negotiations between the U.S. and Iran and as attention turned to Europe's low gas storage levels.
The benchmark Dutch front-month contract at the TTF hub was up €0.545 at €65.84 per megawatt hour (MWh) or around $22.56/mmBtu, by 0737 GMT, ICE data showed.
The contract touched a fresh intra-day five-month high of €66.09 in early trade.
The British front-month contract was up 1.49 pence at 162.72 pence per therm, having also touched a fresh five-month high of 163.02 pence in the morning.
Supply concerns and low storage keep sentiment bullish
“The sentiment remains bullish on the Hormuz supply disruption as well as low European storage levels into the winter,” LSEG analyst Saku Jussila said in a daily research note.
An earlier peace deal between the U.S. and Iran expired this week with no effort by either side to restart talks, while U.S. President Donald Trump has threatened to toughen sanctions on Iran.
Shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, through which roughly a fifth of the world's LNG typically passes, has been constrained since the conflict began at the end of February.
Europe’s gas stores are currently 61.82% full, data from Gas Infrastructure Europe showed.
“The window to normalize inventory levels before heating season is nearly closed, and in our view, a tight start to winter has now effectively been locked in — likely supporting 2H26 prices even if the Middle East conflict de-escalates again,” analysts at Morgan Stanley said.
