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EMEA Natural Gas Update: Futures Edge Lower Amid Ongoing Technical Talks Between US, Iran

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European natural gas futures were down on Wednesday, amid reports of technical level talks between the US and Iran currently being underway.

The front-month Dutch TTF contract dropped 0.33% to 43.300 euros ($49.32) per megawatt-hour, while the UK NBP front-month dropped 1.19% to 103.210 British pence ($1.37) per therm.

Talks between the two sides in Doha have reached technical levels, where the nitty-gritties of the deal will be discussed, even as senior envoys of both the US and Iran haven't held any direct talks with each other, according to a report by Al Jazeera, citing sources familiar with the matter.

Meanwhile, the strategically crucial Strait of Hormuz, which accounted for one-fifth of global LNG flows, has remained effectively shut for over four months, with just five vessels transiting over the past 24 hours, according to the Hormuz Strait Monitor.

To make matters worse, QatarEnergy extended its force majeure, which means it would be unable to meet contractual obligations, particularly at the Adriatic LNG terminal, until early September.

Daniel Hynes, a senior commodity strategist at ANZ, said that this was "adding nervousness to an already volatile market," while noting that abnormal heat was set to hit Western Europe this week, leading to increased cooling demand and energy consumption.

European gas inventories remained depleted, at just 48.86% of total capacity, compared with 58.59% in the same period a year ago, according to data from Gas Infrastructure Europe.

Inventories were also significantly below the five-year average for this period, at 63.5%, according to the Swiss Federal Office of Energy.

This comes at a critical juncture for the region, which is currently experiencing an unprecedented heatwave, with record temperatures across France, UK, Switzerland, and Germany, as mercury surges touches 40 degrees Celcius in certain cities, according to Severe-Weather EU.

As a result, Europe is set to witness increased demand for space cooling, leading to higher gas-fired energy consumption in the near-term.

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