European natural gas prices reversed an earlier spike on Tuesday, as investors gauged an impending U.S. deadline for Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and ongoing attempts by Pakistan to broker a ceasefire.

The benchmark Dutch front-month contract at the TTF hub was down by 2.0% at 49.16 euros per megawatt hour by 05:47 ET (09:47 GMT), according to ICE data.

Many European countries use natural gas exported from producers in the Persian Gulf, particularly Qatar. But flows have been dented by Iranian attacks on energy infrastructure in the region, while analysts have warned that supplies may not immediately snap back into place if the war ends imminently.

Strategists at ANZ cited by the Wall Street Journal added that the tightening inventories are making European and Asian markets more sensitive to inclement weather and outages. Spot market is also showing signs of thinning as more traders look to the relative safety of longer-term contracts, the analysts told the WSJ.

On Monday, U.S. President Donald Trump reasserted his threat to hit bridges and power plants in Iran with strikes should Tehran not agree to a deal to halt hostilities and reopen the Strait of Hormuz. A vital waterway off of southern coast through which roughly a fifth of the world’s oil passes, the strait has been largely blockaded by Iran for weeks.

If the fresh U.S. attacks happen, Trump warned, it would take Iran “100 years to rebuild.”

But the bellicose language was accompanied a caveat from Trump that a diplomatic resolution could be reached to the war, which began with joint U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran in late February.

Meanwhile, Pakistani mediation efforts are nearing a “critical, sensitive stage,” an Iranian official has said. In a social media post, Reza Amiri Moghadam, Iran’s ambassador to Pakistan, did not offer further details, saying only “[s]tay tuned for more.”

Iran and Israel, which has lodged a joint now six-week campaign against Tehran with the U.S., continued to attack each other on Tuesday.
Source: Investing.com