By Jamie Chisholm
European natural gas prices jump after Qatar shuts production
Smoke plumes rise following missile strikes in Tehran on March 1, 2026.
Oil prices rose to their highest in more than a year as traders continued to fret that supplies will be badly affected by conflict in the Middle East.
The Brent oil futures contract (BRN00) jumped more than 5% to brush $82 a barrel, nearly its most expensive since mid-January 2025.
The U.S. light sweet crude contract (CL00) also surged around 5% to change hands above $75.
Oil tankers are shying away from traversing the Straits of Hormuz, slowing the transportation of crude, while fears rise that oil production facilities in the region may be hit by military action from Iran.
“Panic is building in markets as President Trump threatened Iran by saying that ‘the big one’ is coming…it suggests that this conflict will not be wrapped up in the next few days, that the Iranian regime may be down, but it is not out and it has the capability to fight back,” said Kathleen Brooks, research director at XTB.
Victoria Scholar, head of investment at Interactive Investor, said: “Oil continues its ascent…[as] the war between Iran and the U.S. and Israel has intensified after a U.S. embassy in Riyadh was reportedly hit by drones and Israel attacked Tehran and Beirut.”
The conflict around the Persian gulf is also impacting the natural gas market, with benchmark European prices surging to their highest in about three years after Iranian attacks caused the shutdown of Qatari production.
The Dutch TTF Natural Gas contract for April, on Tuesday jumped 24% to more than EUR55 per MWh, adding to Monday’s 39% rise, which was the biggest in percentage terms since Russia’s full-blown invasion of Ukraine four year’s ago.
Qatar produces a fifth of the world’s liquid natural gas output. The Gulf country is the biggest supplier to Asia, and the surge in European prices reflects concerns for increased global competition for cargoes of the fuel.
In August 2022, a few month after the start of Russia’s invasion, the Dutch TTF Natural Gas contract spiked to EUR350 per MWh.
U.S. natural gas futures (NG00) are being caught up in the supply concerns, rising 6% on Tuesday, though well off the year’s high caused by snow storms across the east of the U.S.
-Jamie Chisholm
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03-03-26 0542ET
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