Oil prices rose by more than 15% last week, while European natural gas prices increased by more than 17% amid renewed military tensions between the United States and Iran, which resulted in the Strait of Hormuz being blocked again for maritime traffic.
Specifically, the price of US crude oil, West Texas Intermediate (WTI), closed on Friday with a sharp increase of 4.5%, at $82.49 per barrel, recording a weekly gain of 15.5%.
The price of North Sea Brent crude rose by 4.6% on Friday, reaching $88.10 per barrel, its highest level in one month. On a weekly basis, Brent gained 15.9%.
Storage levels
Meanwhile, the price of European benchmark natural gas, Dutch TTF futures for August delivery, closed on Friday at €58.8 per megawatt-hour, marking a significant daily increase of 4.7%. Over the week, TTF prices rose by 17.8%. During July, TTF prices surged by 41%.
Notably, British natural gas prices increased by 11.7% during the past week, while German natural gas prices rose by 9.4%. In contrast, US natural gas prices declined by 0.9% over the same period.
According to data from Gas Infrastructure Europe, gas storage facilities across Europe are currently filled to 51.15% of their total capacity, equivalent to 600.76 terawatt-hours (TWh).
Storage levels stand at 44% in Germany, 52% in France, 71% in Italy and 72% in Spain.
