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EMEA Natural Gas Update: Prices Fall as Hormuz Traffic Increases, Iran Talks Progress

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European natural gas futures fell sharply in after-hours trading on Wednesday, tracking declines in crude oil prices as shipping traffic through the Strait of Hormuz increased and signs emerged of potential progress toward easing tensions between the US and Iran.

The front-month Dutch TTF gas contract fell 5.2% to 49.11 euros ($57.08) per megawatt hour, while the UK front-month NBP contract dropped 5.3% to 120.00 British pence ($1.61) per therm.

Market sentiment weakened after monitoring data showed a rise in vessel traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, easing immediate concerns over disruptions to global energy flows.

HormuzStraitMonitor.com said 26 ships transited the waterway over the past 24 hours. Separately, Reuters reported that three supertankers carrying a combined 6 million barrels of Middle East crude were moving through the strait on Wednesday, while another very large crude carrier entered the passage.

US President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that negotiations with Iran were in the final stages, news outlets reported. Earlier in the week, he said he came close to ordering more attacks on Iran, but held off to allow more time for negotiations.

Traders are also closely watching Europe's LNG imports as the region seeks to rebuild gas inventories ahead of winter. Data from Gas Infrastructure Europe showed EU gas storage levels were 36.67% full on Wednesday, lagging behind levels of nearly 45% recorded at the same time last year.

Supply concerns in Asia provided some support to the market. ANZ analyst Daniel Hynes said two production trains at Malaysia's Bintulu LNG facility had been shut due to operational issues. The plant operates nine trains with total capacity of 30 million metric tons per year.

Meanwhile, a planned labor strike at Inpex's Ichthys LNG project in Australia could disrupt output as early as next week.

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