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EMEA Natural Gas Update: Futures Rise Nearly 2% Despite Iran, Oman Hormuz Deal

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European natural gas futures edged higher on Friday, reclaiming their highest level in more than three years as uncertainties continued to cloud recent diplomatic victories in the Middle East.

Front-month Dutch TTF futures rose 1.80% to 69.500 euros ($80.93) per megawatt-hour, while UK NBP futures gained 1.82% to 171.550 British pence ($2.33) per therm.

On Thursday, Mohsen Rezaei, the Secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, said that the country was preparing a list of conditions for reopening the Strait of Hormuz, after coming to terms with Oman regarding a shipping corridor along the waterway, according to a Reuters report, citing an Al Manar TV interview.

According to Qatar's Foreign Ministry, the country had discussed a "joint project" with Tehran to clear mines from the Strait of Hormuz to improve the safety of navigation along the crucial strait, according to an Al Jazeera report.

The US, however, has continued to maintain that it wasn't concerned about any agreements between Iran and Qatar regarding the control of the strait.

Daniel Hynes, a senior commodity strategist at ANZ, echoed similar concerns, noting that "it was unclear that the US would accept any deal that excludes it from control over the strait."

Traffic along the strategically crucial Strait of Hormuz, which accounted for one-fifth of global LNG flows, surged to 29 on Thursday, according to data from ShipFinder.

Meanwhile, European natural gas inventories continued to languish at seasonal lows, at 63.8% of capacity, compared to 76.46% 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 81.0%, according to the Swiss Federal Office of Energy.

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