European natural gas futures edged lower on Wednesday amid renewed US-Iran talks reviving hopes for a diplomatic resolution to the conflict, while US natural gas futures rallied.
Front-month Dutch TTF futures were down 0.29% to 73.125 euros ($83.39) per megawatt-hour, while British NBP futures were down 0.02% to 182.340 British pence ($2.42) per therm. Front-month Henry Hub futures were up 2.09%, at $3.026 per million British thermal units.
On Tuesday, US President Donald Trump said that US officials had a "very good meeting" with their counterparts from Iran, while acknowledging that talks were "not the highest level," on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly. In his address to global leaders, Trump warned that he would "annihilate" Iran if a deal was not reached soon.
This comes as Europe continues to struggle with low gas inventories, at 70.14% of capacity, compared to 81.96% a year ago, according to Gas Infrastructure Europe. Inventories were also significantly below the five-year average for this period, at 85.70%, according to the Swiss Federal Office of Energy.
US natural gas prices hit their highest level since July, as weather forecasts point to above-normal temperatures across most of the country in the near-term, even as the mercury begins to drop. This is expected to result in "relatively small storage builds," according to the Energy Buyer's Guide.