Dutch and British gas contracts firmed on Monday after another attempt to end the US-Israel war on Iran failed even as the first Qatari liquefied natural gas (LNG) tanker sailed through the Strait of Hormuz to deliver cargo to Pakistan.
The benchmark Dutch front-month contract at the TTF hub was up €0.68 at €44.83 per megawatt hour (MWh) by 07:44 GMT, data from the Intercontinental Exchange showed.
The British contract for June was up 1.39p at 109.73p per therm.
The move up in TTF gas was "modest" but there remains an upside risk, Arne Lohmann Rasmussen, chief analyst at Global Risk Management, said in a morning report.
There is a lack of progress in ending the Middle East conflict, after US President Donald Trump on Sunday swiftly rejected Iran's response to a US peace proposal, keeping shipping through the Strait of Hormuz paralysed.
"Last night's announcement does not provide any information about what is happening now," analysts at SEB said in a daily note.
"While optimism for an imminent deal is fading, there remains a glimmer of hope that talks between Trump and Chinese President Xi later this week could yield positive results on Iran," an analyst at ING Research said in a note.
The Al Kharaitiyat tanker sailed through the Strait of Hormuz to Port Qasim in Pakistan, the first shipment of Qatari LNG since the start of the war.
Pakistan is a mediator in the war and according to two people familiar with the matter, Iran had approved and may agree to further deliveries to help alleviate a gas shortage in Pakistan.
In fact, the Mihzem LNG tanker is also broadcasting Pakistan's Bin Qasim as a destination, said LSEG analyst Ulrich Weber.
"Of course, this is a positive and a bearish development," he added.
(Reporting by Nora Buli; Editing by Janane Venkatraman)