Due to the conflict in Iran, natural gas prices in European Union countries have increased by almost 90%. There is also a rise in oil prices by approximately 40%. This information was announced at a press conference by European Commissioner Pierre Gramegna, as reported by the newspaper Kommersant.
Gramegna noted that before the escalation of the conflict in the Middle East, gas prices were at an extremely low level, which led to such a significant increase in prices.
Moreover, he added that since the beginning of the conflict, the shares of European companies have decreased by about 9%. The euro has also weakened against the dollar, dropping by 2%.
“Before the onset of geopolitical instability, investors assessed the economic prospects of the EU quite optimistically... However, the conflict in the Middle East has temporarily, and I emphasize temporarily, negatively affected this optimism,” he stated. Pierre Gramegna explained that this is related to Europe's high dependence on energy resource prices, which makes the situation even more vulnerable in the context of the conflict.
The price of April futures for natural gas at the Dutch TTF hub was €31.9 per 1 MWh on February 27, while at the close of trading on March 9, the price rose to €56.4 per MWh.
