Gas prices in Europe soar by 18% due to Trump's intention to block Strait of Hormuz

Natural gas prices in Europe have risen sharply after US President Donald Trump announced his intention to completely block the movement of ships through the Strait of Hormuz. This is reported by Bloomberg.

What happened to gas prices?

Futures on the Dutch hub TTF soared by 18% to EUR 51.30 per megawatt-hour. Later, the price stabilized at EUR 49.45 during trading in Singapore. In general, since the end of February this year, when the United States and Israel launched their first strikes on Iran, gas prices in Europe have increased by more than 50%.

The latest rise came amid the failure of the talks between the US and Iran that took place over the weekend in Pakistan. The parties failed to agree on ending the war, which has cut off about 20% of the world's liquefied natural gas supplies. LNG exports through the Strait of Hormuz have been halted for more than a month.

Trump said that the US Navy would block all ships that try to enter or leave the Strait of Hormuz, and would detain in international waters every ship that had previously paid a duty to Iran. The United States Central Command (CENTCOM) announced that the blockade will begin on April 13 at 5 p.m. Kyiv time.

As previously reported, the day before, the Speaker of the Iranian Parliament threatened consequences for oil prices in response to the US statements on the Strait of Hormuz.