Benchmark Dutch and British wholesale gas prices fell on Tuesday as supply risk eased, with more vessels passing through the Strait of Hormuz, and as Qatar's energy minister said an explosion at the Barzan gas facility will not affect LNG imports.
The benchmark Dutch front-month contract at the TTF hub inched €0.14 lower to €41.70 per megawatt hour (MWh) by 08:41 GMT, ICE data showed.
The British front-month contract was down 0.25p at 99.69p per therm. US Vice President JD Vance said talks with Iranian officials in Switzerland had laid a good foundation for a final peace deal.
The two sides, trying to build on the interim deal they signed last week, agreed a roadmap towards a permanent agreement within 60 days at the talks in the Swiss mountain resort of Buergenstock, mediators Pakistan and Qatar said.
Two stranded supertankers passed through the strait on Tuesday, while seven empty Qatar-linked LNG tankers have entered in recent weeks, in an early sign Persian Gulf gas shipping may be resuming, ship-tracking data show.
"A gradual return of gas exports — contingent on sustained Strait access and the resolution of logistical constraints — would also point to an initially bearish trajectory for prices as supply risks start to ease," Rabobank analysts said in a note.
"However, the key problem of winter supply and low storages in Europe will not be entirely solved by a reopening of the Strait now," they added.
EU gas storage sites were last 46.72 per cent full, compared with 55.81 per cent at the same time last year, Gas Infrastructure Europe data showed.
Temperatures across Northwest Europe are set to peak on June 27 to 28.7 degrees Celsius, about 12 degrees above normal, before falling next week.
Residential demand for heating is forecast to remain almost flat across the prompt horizon and gas demand for power generation is also expected to remain unchanged amid sideways wind and solar forecast.
(Reporting by Marwa Rashad; Editing by Sonia Cheema)
