European natural gas prices spike amid attacks on Middle East energy sites
European gas prices spiked by 25% on Thursday, after a wave of attacks on energy infrastructure in the Middle East included strikes at a key liquefied natural gas facility in Qatar.
By 05:23 ET (09:23 GMT), the price of next-day natural gas at the Dutch TTF hub, a benchmark for the crucial energy source in Europe, had surged by 24.8% to 68.215 euros per megawatt hour, News.Az reports, citing CNBC.
The spike threatens to exacerbate inflation pressures in Europe, which has already been grappling with an uptick in oil prices following the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz south of Iran. The European Central Bank is widely anticipated to keep interest rates unchanged on Thursday, mirroring trend among global policymakers wary of taking swift actions on interest rates until more clarity emerges around the impact of the Iran war.
Energy prices across the board have spiked in the wake of an attack on the South Pars gas field, the Iranian section of the world’s biggest natural gas deposit. Brent crude futures, the global benchmark, raced above $112 a barrel.
President Donald Trump has denied U.S. or Qatari involvement in the attack on South Pars, saying Israel instead carried out the bombardment. Tehran responded by targeting sites on gas facilities across the Middle East, as fighting between Iran and the joint forces of the U.S. and Israel threatened to spiral into a wider regional conflict.
Among the targets hit by Iranian strikes was Ras Laffan in Qatar, the world’s largest site for liquefied natural gas production. The location alone accounts for up to a fifth of global LNG supply.
"Damage to the LNG facilities means that the troubles for global gas markets aren’t just about when flows through the Strait of Hormuz resume, but how long repair work at the sites might take," analysts at ING said in a note.
By Faig Mahmudov
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