EUROPE GAS - European gas prices rise on Middle East insecurity
Prices for Dutch and British gas rose on Monday due to uncertainty about shipments through Strait of Hormuz. This was despite the fact that Iran and the United States had agreed to stop recent hostilities between them in the Gulf region and Middle East.
ICE data shows that the benchmark Dutch front-month contract was EUR0.868 higher at EUR41.65 per megawatt hour (MWh), or around $13.92/mmBtu by 0825 GMT.
The British June contract increased by 2.05?pence to 99.85 pence a therm.
Prices may benefit from the fluid and fragile situation in the Middle East. "More ships were attacked in the Strait of Hormuz, as well as renewed U.S. and Iranian attacks over the weekend," Wayne Bryan said in a daily note.
The number of ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz increased last week, but dropped after renewed attacks by the U.S. on Thursday prompted strikes from Iran and the U.S. Both countries have agreed to resume talks about the strait.
Since the conflict began on February 28, a significant amount of the liquified gas that passes through this waterway has been curtailed.
LSEG data revealed that the European market is?well-supplied with a total of?Norwegian nominations for exports up by 7 million cubic meters/day, to 338 mcm/day.
National Gas data shows that the UK gas market is 'oversupplied' with a forecast supply of 155,8 million cubic meters?and a demand of 142.98.
The high temperatures in Europe that prompted French nuclear power producers to reduce their production and raised the demand for electricity have begun to ease, although they are expected to return to normal temperatures by July.
The benchmark contract on the European carbon markets fell by EUR0.05, to EUR80.24 per metric ton.
(source: Reuters)
