Gas Prices Breathe Easy After Multi-Day Surge
European and British wholesale natural gas prices took a breather on Thursday as traders locked in profits following a dramatic multi-day rally. The benchmark Dutch front-month contract fell 1.7% to 72.23 euros per megawatt-hour (MWh), stepping back from the multi-year peak of 74.32 euros reached earlier in the week.
The British NBP wholesale gas contract dropped 2.7% to 178.08 pence per therm, pulling back after breaching 183 pence in the previous session, its highest level since late 2023.
Despite this short-term retreat, underlying geopolitical risk premia remain heavily priced into forward curves due to ongoing tensions and supply risks elevated by the Strait of Hormuz blockade. This bottleneck handles roughly one-fifth of global seaborne liquefied natural gas (LNG) shipments, with satellite data confirming commercial tanker traffic remains at a small fraction of pre-war levels.