17/08/2026 – Memorandum signed by the United States and Iran expires, gas prices reach new highs – Read more news

GAS & POWER: Gas prices return to their month-highs this morning, with the memorandum between the United States and Iran looming. Over the weekend, diplomacy once again showed signs of evident difficulty, with Washington first declaring its willingness to make the Strait of Hormuz American territory, then retracting, and later anticipating new heavy economic sanctions against Tehran, and supporting the ability to carry out the current blockade of Iranian ports without any expiration date. New attacks on merchant ships then occurred inside the Strait, while the potential agreement between Iran and Oman now appears definitively nuanced.

French nuclear capacity today remains below its lowest levels in four years, bent by the latest heat wave. Over the past week, EDF has also had to deal with a partial shutdown of its Gravelines plant, with a capacity of 5.4 GW, due to an unexpected presence of jellyfish near water cooling facilities. Temperatures dropping in the second part of the week, however, pave the way for a rapid recovery, with availability expected to recover above the 40 GW threshold as early as Thursday, August 20.