European natural gas prices fell for a second session to around €71.5 per megawatt-hour on Friday as investors weighed renewed Middle East tensions, even as the market locked in a fourth consecutive weekly gain of more than 6%. The retreat marked a recent roughly 3% pullback after a spike to the highest levels in more than three years, yet the Dutch TTF benchmark remained about 30% higher over the past month following a U.S. attack on Iran that triggered retaliatory strikes on American bases across the region. President Trump indicated that renewed strikes on Tehran would not last too long, but tensions remain elevated around the Strait of Hormuz, where shipping paralysis continues to hamper Gulf LNG supplies to Europe and slow inventory replenishment. Europe’s gas inventories for the coming winter remain abnormally low, raising the risk of tighter competition for cargoes and leaving the region vulnerable to price spikes in colder months. Earlier in the week, Dutch front-month TTF futures had reached €74.32 per MWh and crude oil rose above $91.50 a barrel as Hormuz traffic thinned and delayed Qatar LNG shipments intensified the geopolitical risk premium on energy, while prediction-market pricing continued to reflect scope for further crude strength into year-end.