-- European gas futures fell sharply on Wednesday after signs that the US and Iran had made some progress towards a definitive peace agreement to end more than two months of conflict that have caused one of the worst supply shocks in the history of the oil trade.
News of progress emerged in an Axios article titled "U.S. and Iran closing in on one-page memo to end war, officials say."
The story, citing two U.S. officials and two other sources familiar with developments, said the White House believes it is close to reaching an agreement with Iran based on the proposed one-page framework and is awaiting Iran's response by Friday.
Dutch TTF futures fell by close to 9% shortly after the news but were 6.5% lower later in the day at 43.86 euros ($51.55). British NBP futures were down 6.6% to 107.5 British pence ($1.46).
A post on the social media site Truth Social later on Wednesday by US President Donald Trump seemed to hint at continued resistance from the Iranian side, however.
He repeated that in the absence of agreement, the US would resort to force to achieve its demands including Iran's abandonment of nuclear enrichment.
"Assuming Iran agrees to give what has been agreed to, which is, perhaps, a big assumption, the already legendary Epic Fury will be at an end, and the highly effective Blockade will allow the Hormuz Strait to be OPEN TO ALL, including Iran. If they don't agree, the bombing starts, and it will be, sadly, at a much higher level and intensity than it was before," Trump wrote.