-- European natural gas futures prices trimmed earlier declines in after-hours trade on Wednesday after Iran said it was reviewing a US proposal aimed at ending the conflict, signaling no immediate acceptance of terms pushed by Washington.
Dutch TTF futures fell 6.012% to 44.105 euros ($51.83), while UK NBP contracts fell 5.825% to 108.32 British pence ($1.47).
Prices had dropped by nearly 9% earlier in the session on initial reports of diplomatic progress before reversing some of those losses after US President Donald Trump threatened intensified military action if Tehran rejects the deal.
The White House reportedly believes a framework agreement is close and is awaiting Iran's response by Friday, news outlets reported. Late Tuesday, Trump said the US would pause a recently announced operation to escort commercial shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, citing "great progress" in talks. However, he later warned that if Iran rejects the proposal, "the bombing starts" and would be at a higher level of intensity than before.
The conflict in the Middle East and the closure of the Strait of Hormuz have kept European natural gas supplies tight and expensive. "Although most Middle East gas flows to Asia, the disruption has tightened global supply and raised concerns in Europe, which needs to rebuild inventories ahead of winter," Trading Economics said.
EU gas storage levels stood at 34.07% of capacity on Wednesday, according to Gas Infrastructure Europe, well below 41.4% a year earlier.
Separately, Norway's Equinor reported its strongest quarterly earnings in three years on Wednesday, supported by higher production and rising prices driven by the conflict. The company said the tensions in the Gulf have also increased Asian demand for LNG cargoes from Europe.
Equinor operates an LNG plant in Arctic Hammerfest, typically serving customers in Europe.
"But we see that there is demand from customers in Asia who contact us once a year to maintain their customer relationship. They call twice a week now," Equinor CEO Anders Opedal reportedly said during an earnings call.