The November futures contract at the Dutch TTF hub, the benchmark for European natural gas prices, settled at €93.85 per megawatt-hour on Friday, Anadolu Agency reported.

Prices rose 1.9% from Friday's close to €95.65 per megawatt-hour as of 9.18 am local time (0618 GMT) on Monday, reaching their highest level since December 2022.Escalating military conflict in the Middle East has added to concerns over global gas supplies ahead of winter.

LNG shipments from the Persian Gulf, which accounted for around a fifth of global LNG supply before the conflict, remain largely disrupted, with flows approximately 80% below year-earlier levels.

According to data from Gas Infrastructure Europe (GIE), natural gas storage facilities across European Union countries were 74.6% full.

As temperatures fall, some EU countries have begun drawing on stored gas, adding to concerns over supply security ahead of winter.

With storage levels below historical averages, Europe has less capacity to absorb further supply disruptions and a potential increase in heating demand, leaving the natural gas market more vulnerable to price increases in the coming months.