Prestige Business Solutions wholesale market update.

Prestige Business Solutions wholesale market update.

Prestige Business Solutions wholesale market update.

Prestige Business Solutions wholesale market update.

Prestige Business Solutions wholesale market update.

Prestige Business Solutions wholesale market update.

Prestige Business Solutions wholesale market update.

Prestige Business Solutions wholesale market update.

Prestige Business Solutions wholesale market update.

Prestige Business Solutions wholesale market update.

Prestige Business Solutions wholesale market update.

Prestige Business Solutions wholesale market update.

European energy markets fell sharply on Wednesday as reports that Iran and Oman are close to finalising an agreement to open a new commercial shipping route through the Strait of Hormuz pulled risk premium out of gas, power and the wider complex.

Energy markets extended their retreat on Tuesday as reports that the United States and Iran are close to an agreement on reopening the Strait of Hormuz pulled risk premium out of gas, power and crude alike.

Energy markets spent Monday pricing out the risk of a wider Middle East conflict, only to reverse course this morning after Iran denied that talks with Washington were under way and an LNG carrier was struck transiting the Strait of Hormuz.

Diplomacy rather than weather set the tone into the new week, with US-Iran talks scheduled for this afternoon, reports of an emerging arrangement over the Strait of Hormuz, and Brent down 4.5 per cent this morning as a result.

European energy markets pulled back on Thursday as cooler weather and a modest improvement in supply allowed traders to unwind part of the risk premium built up during a month of escalating conflict between the United States and Iran,

A renewed exchange of strikes between the United States and Iran, together with a drone attack on LNG vessels at an Egyptian port, pushed the geopolitical risk premium straight back into European gas and oil prices on Wednesday after it had been stripped out at the start of the week.

Wholesale energy markets extended their retreat from recent highs on 28 July as the pause in US-Iran hostilities continued to drain the risk premium built up over the past fortnight, though the pace of the decline slowed sharply and this morning has begun to reverse on reports of renewed military activity in the region.

European energy markets fell sharply on Monday as a pause in US strikes on Iran, and the absence of further disruption to shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, prompted traders to unwind a substantial portion of the geopolitical risk premium accumulated over the preceding fortnight.