US natural gas futures climbed to around $3.20 per MMBtu, extending gains from the previous session as markets continued to track developments in the Middle East conflict. Iran has said it will only consider a ceasefire if the US guarantees that neither Washington nor Israel will carry out further strikes, a condition Washington is widely expected to reject, undermining the chances of a near-term truce.
The conflict has already forced the shutdown of Ras Laffan in Qatar, the world’s largest LNG export terminal, which is now facing its longest outage since at least 2008, while the vital Strait of Hormuz remains closed. Even so, US natural gas prices have been comparatively insulated from the global fallout, underpinned by abundant domestic supply and LNG export capacity that is close to fully utilized.
At the same time, international attempts to rein in soaring energy costs have brought little relief, even after the IEA announced coordinated plans for an unprecedented release of strategic oil reserves.
