Brussels, April 20 (QNA) - Natural gas prices in Europe surged on Monday as ongoing tensions in the Middle East fueled market volatility.

The benchmark Dutch TTF futures climbed by as much as 11 percent, reaching 43 Euro per megawatt-hour, before gains pared back to 6.2 percent later in the session.

Military escalation in the region previously had driven natural gas prices to 74 Euro per megawatt-hour in March, marking a sharp increase from approximately 31 Euro per megawatt-hour prior to the escalation.

Last week, the European Commission urged EU member states to accelerate the transition to renewable and nuclear energy sources to mitigate the energy crisis triggered by the regional military conflict. (QNA)