Natural gas hits highest price in nearly two years, approaching 80 euros per MWh

The wholesale price of natural gas for the European market today reached 79.11 euros per megawatt-hour (MWh) for the first time since the end of 2022. It later gave up some of its gains; at around 13:30 CEST, the October-delivery futures contract at the virtual Title Transfer Facility (TTF) trading hub in the Netherlands was showing an increase of 3.6 percent to 78.55 euros per MWh.

The price of natural gas in Europe continues to rise sharply amid the worsening situation in the Middle East, the DPA news agency noted. Following the recent price spike, natural gas on the wholesale market is more expensive than at the start of the war with Iran, when the price briefly climbed above 70 euros per MWh in March. The price was last higher in 2022, when it temporarily exceeded 300 euros after supplies from Russia were halted as a result of the war in Ukraine.

Iran attacked a US base in the town of Azraq in northern Jordan with ballistic missiles. The attack was retaliation for earlier US strikes on Iranian tankers. Jordan confirmed the attacks. Iran's Revolutionary Guards also said they had carried out fresh attacks on two US ships, eight oil tankers and another ten vessels.

Jordanian air defences neutralised 18 of the 20 Iranian missiles launched. The remaining two missiles landed in remote uninhabited areas, the state news agency said, citing the Jordanian military. The US military reported that on Tuesday it destroyed five Iranian oil tankers in the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman in retaliation for earlier Iranian attacks that struck a US military vessel.

According to preliminary shipping data, six cargo vessels carrying commodities passed through the Strait of Hormuz on Tuesday, Reuters reported. This is down from nine vessels recorded a day earlier and well below the 10-day average of approximately 12 vessels per day.

The war in the region began with US-Israeli strikes on Iran at the end of February. In response, Tehran significantly restricted maritime traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, both through threats and repeated attacks on tankers and cargo vessels. The United States launched a naval blockade of Iran in April. At various stages of the conflict, both countries repeatedly took military action against vessels that did not comply with their blockades.

Before the war, roughly one-fifth of global oil and natural gas supplies passed through the Strait of Hormuz.