European natural gas futures rose on Tuesday, hovering near their highest level in over three years, as uncertainties continued to linger over energy flows along the Strait of Hormuz.
Front-month Dutch TTF contracts advanced 2.12% to 74.860 euros ($86.94) per megawatt-hour, while UK NBP futures gained 2.14% to 186.150 British pence ($2.52) per therm.
On Monday, a senior US official told Al Jazeera that the US Navy fully controlled Hormuz and that it was open to commercial traffic. The official also noted that Washington was satisfied with the recovery of flows through the Strait.
Meanwhile, Mohsen Rezaei, the Secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, has threatened the US with a new "maritime exclusion zone," in retaliation against Washington's economic warfare against the country.
"The operational posture toward US warships and bases has been fundamentally recalibrated," Rezaei said on Tuesday, in a post on X.
Traffic along the strategically crucial strait, which accounted for one-fifth of global LNG flows, dipped on Monday to 15 transits, according to data from ShipFinder.
Daniel Hynes, a senior commodity strategist at ANZ, noted that the return of Qatari LNG tankers to the Persian Gulf was adding to hopes that the world's largest LNG exporter could resume supplies soon.
He also highlighted that the country hadn't sent a single LNG tanker through the strait since one of its vessels was struck by a missile in July.
This comes as Europe continues to struggle with low gas inventories at just 66.90% of capacity, compared to 79.20% during the corresponding period a year ago, according to Gas Infrastructure Europe.
Inventories were also significantly below the five-year average for this period, at 83.3%, according to the Swiss Federal Office of Energy.
Germany, the EU's largest gas consumer, is in a particularly difficult situation, with inventories just 54.52% full, compared with 79.20% during the corresponding period a year ago.
The country's gas storage operators, under the umbrella organization Ines, raised the alarm on Tuesday, noting that refilling operations needed to proceed faster and suggesting reduced or scrapped levies and fees altogether, which could further hinder the process, as reported by.