European natural gas prices eased on Monday as traders took profits following a surge to multi-year highs driven by escalating Middle East tensions.
The Dutch front-month TTF gas contract fell 1.7% to €72.23 per megawatt-hour, retracing from a seven-year peak of €74.32 reached earlier in the week. In the UK, the National Balancing Point (NBP) wholesale gas contract declined 2.7% to 178.08 pence per therm, paring gains after breaching 183 pence on Friday—the highest level since late 2023.
The retreat follows a period of heightened volatility tied to regional geopolitical risks. Direct military engagements between U.S. forces and Iran, including U.S. airstrikes on Iranian military assets in the Persian Gulf and retaliatory Iranian missile strikes on U.S. facilities in Jordan, have disrupted critical shipping lanes. Commercial navigation through the Strait of Hormuz, a chokepoint handling roughly one-fifth of global seaborne liquefied natural gas (LNG) shipments, remains severely constrained, with satellite vessel-tracking data indicating tanker traffic at a fraction of pre-war levels.
European energy importers are facing intensified competition from Asian utilities for limited spot LNG cargoes sourced from the Atlantic basin, further amplifying price pressures. The Strait of Hormuz primarily serves as an export route for Qatari LNG, a key supplier to both European and Asian markets.
The latest pullback reflects profit-taking after prices surged past war-era highs, though underlying supply risks persist amid ongoing regional instability.
