ING: As the Iran war continues, European natural gas prices rise

```htmlGolden Ten Data reported on May 18 that European natural gas prices once surpassed 50 euros per megawatt hour, as traders believe the situation in the Middle East is unlikely to ease in the short term. Analysts at ING stated: "We have repeatedly emphasized that the natural gas market has not fully reflected the impact of disruptions in Persian Gulf supplies. Asian buyers will need to enter the spot market to replace contractual cargoes disrupted from the Persian Gulf, which will intensify competition between Asian and European buyers." Meanwhile, EU gas storage is only at 36% of total capacity, far below the five-year average level of 50%. In early trading, the benchmark Dutch TTF near-month contract price once rose 2.4%, reaching 51.36 euros per megawatt hour.```