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Natural gas prices in Europe rose on Thursday, as supply uncertainty increased due to tensions between the US and Iran.
Benchmark futures climbed by as much as 4.2 percent, after falling the previous day. The market experienced sharp fluctuations this week as traders balanced the impact of geopolitical developments and European efforts to refill depleted gas stocks ahead of winter, according to Bloomberg.
Europe's current storage level is slightly above 70 percent, below the usual seasonal level of 86 percent.
The price of the nearest-term Dutch futures, the benchmark for European gas prices, rose by 3.44 percent to 74.49 euros per megawatt-hour.
Separately, diesel prices at EU fuel stations reached a new record of 2.23 euros per liter, compared to 2.16 euros the previous week, according to an analysis by Agence France-Presse of national data published by the European Commission on Thursday.
Based on this data, which has been published weekly since 2005, record prices were recorded in 19 of the 27 EU countries, including Germany, France, and Italy, driven by energy shocks resulting from the war in the Middle East and the conflict between Russia and Ukraine.
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