EUROPE GAS — Prices rebound as US — Iran diplomacy efforts stutter

US, Iran positions over how to end hostilities remain far apart Maintenance extensions curb Norway flows for longer EU gas storage still trails prior-year filling levels OSLO, Sept 24 (Reuters) — Benchmark Dutch and British wholesale gas prices rose on Thursday amid fading hopes of a diplomatic solution to the US-Iran conflict that could help reinstate flows of liquefied natural gas (LNG) from the Middle East. 50 per megawatt hour (MWh) by 0811 GMT, ICE data showed. 85 pence per therm. Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian condemned what he called "signs of a bullying mentality" from US President Donald Trump, who earlier threatened to "annihilate" Iran.

The two countriesremain far apart on how to end their war, but diplomacy must continue, a senior Iranian official told Reuters. "So far, the UN summit has not offered any obvious breakthrough regarding the US-Iran crisis, and the market rebounds this morning as optimism about any noteworthy outcome of the summit is fading," analysts at Mind Energy said in a morning report. "Overall, the market seems to be returning to a wait-and-see position, torn between hopes for a settlement of the US-Iran conflict and a persistently tight European gas balance," analysts at Engie EnergyScan said.

Meanwhile, Norwegian maintenance has not seen the expected uplift to natural gas flows to Europe amid extensions of outages at the Aasgard and Troll fields, LSEG analyst Ulrich Weber said. "So far the extensions are incremental such that major impact on prices is unlikely," he added. 9 mcm/day on Wednesday, but are set to largely normalise by the end of the month, data from infrastructure operator Gassco showed. 7 percentage points lower year-on-year, according to data from Gas Infrastructure Europe.

27 per metric ton. net)