…As European Natural Gas Futures Prices Dip By 20%
Latest news reports today indicated that Global crude oil prices have plunged, with Brent falling below $95 and West Texas Intermediate (WTI) also dropping, following news of a two-week ceasefire agreement between the US and Iran.
The ceasefire, which came after about six weeks of US-Israeli attacks on Iran, has eased geopolitical risks in the Middle East.
Before the ceasefire announcement Prices had previously hovered near multi-month highs on fears of supply disruptions,
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Specifically, BBC reported on Wednesday that Brent Crude price dropped by over 13%, settling around $94-$95 per barrel while the WTI Crude plunged by over 14%, falling to around $96 a barrel.
The US President Donald Trump had announced a temporary ceasefire with Iran, aimed at restoring shipping safety in the Strait of Hormuz.
According to the news medium, before the ceasefire, oil reached a peak of nearly $119 on March 31 due to the escalation in the Middle East.
It reported that nvestors wre cautiously watching for the longevity of the ceasefire, with analysts warning of high volatility and potential for further market spikes if shipping interruptions resume.
Meanwhile, the European benchmark natural gas prices tumbled 20% at opening in Amsterdam on Wednesday after the U.S. and Iran announced a two-week ceasefire that could lead to reopening of the Strait of Hormuz.
The front-month contract of the Dutch TTF Natural Gas Futures, the European benchmark for gas trading, opened 20% lower on Wednesday and traded 16% lower in the late morning in Europe.
A news report from OilPrice.com, an online industry medium, indicated that the May 2026 contract slumped to $51.45 (44 euros) per megawatt-hour (MWh), down from $62 (53 euros) per MWh on Tuesday.
Also, the news report reflected that Europe’s gas prices jumped by about 60% between February 28, the day on which the U.S. and Israel started bombing Iran, and April 7, just before the ceasefire was announced.
According to the online medium, on April 8, the market tentatively hopes that a potential re-opening of the Strait of Hormuz could allow LNG tankers to finally transit the critical chokepoint for energy trade and ease the gas supply crunch of the recent weeks.
It reported that no LNG cargo had transited the Strait of Hormuz in over a month, as two vessels carrying Qatari LNG were forced to abandon an earlier attempt to exit the Strait of Hormuz in what would have been the first export of Qatari LNG since the war began.
Despite the evident market relief with commodities prices slumping and equities rallying after the ceasefire announcement, the physical supply tightness in the LNG market is set to continue.
Qatar’s LNG is not only trapped in the Strait of Hormuz, for now, but its key liquefaction complex Ras Laffan, the world’s largest, sustained extensive damage in an Iranian missile strike in the middle of March.
The strikes and damage have forced Qatar to shut in production and repairs could take up to five years to complete.
