Oil & Energy
EMEA Natural Gas Update: Futures Rise Over 2% After Trump's Latest Hormuz Escalation
European natural gas futures were up by over 2% on Thursday following US President Donald Trump's latest escalation in the Strait of Hormuz.Front-month Dutch TTF contracts rose 2.19% to 44.50 euros ($52.03) per megawatt hour, while UK NBP futures gained 2.29% to 110.92 British pence ($1.49) per therm.In a Truth Social post on Thursday, Trump said that he had ordered the US Navy to "shoot and kill any boat" that was laying mines in the strategically crucial Strait.Trump noted that all of Iran's Navy vessels were sunk, and that the US Navy's minesweepers were already working to clear the Strait.However, the US Pentagon's own assessment expects it to take at least six months for the Strait to be completely clear of mines, according to the report submitted to Congress, The Washington Post reported.Meanwhile, traffic in the Strait of Hormuz has come to a standstill once again, with just five vessels passing through over the past 24 hours, according to the Hormuz Strait Monitor.This comes after Iranian forces seized two vessels passing through the Strait on Wednesday for violating regulations and manipulating navigation systems.These developments come at a time when Europe is entering gas reinjection season with significantly depleted inventories, at just 30.70% of capacity, compared with 37.32% during the corresponding period a year ago.At the same time, Norwegian output, a key supply source for Europe, stood at 12.34 billion cubic feet per day in March, down 1.6% since February and 0.8% year-over-year, while also being 0.5% below forecasts, according to data from the Norwegian Offshore Directorate, further aggravating the supply situation.