European natural gas prices climbed above €64 per MWh on Thursday as ongoing restrictions on shipping through the Strait of Hormuz continued to fuel concerns over global LNG supplies. On Wednesday, President Donald Trump pledged to impose “tremendous punishment” on any country that assists Iran or continues to do business with it, intensifying economic pressure on Tehran to reopen the vital waterway.
His threats followed comments a day earlier that there were no active negotiations and that the naval blockade of Iran remained in place, while Tehran insisted the strait was still closed. The blockade has halted Qatari LNG shipments, forcing European utilities to compete more aggressively for limited cargoes in an already tight global market.
Weaker LNG inflows, combined with heatwave-driven cooling demand, have slowed Europe’s usual pace of gas storage injections. This has heightened fears that the region could enter the winter heating season with inadequate reserves, maintaining upward pressure on gas prices.
