The price of gas in Europe during trading on the stock exchange on Thursday for the first time since the end of May exceeded $1,000 per 1,000 cubic meters against the backdrop of a fire and explosion at a large LNG plant in Texas, according to the London ICE exchange.

The price of July futures at the TTF hub in the Netherlands rose to $1,013.4 per 1,000 cubic meters, or €91.425 per MWh (based on the current euro/dollar exchange rate, ICE prices are in euros per MWh). In general, the cost of gas has been growing by more than 15% since the beginning of trading.

On Wednesday it was reported that the Freeport LNG LNG terminal in Texas has ceased operations after a fire and explosion and will remain closed for at least three weeks, Bloomberg reported. It is one of seven LNG export terminals in the US that liquefy pipeline gas before loading onto tankers.

Freeport LNG's current liquefaction capacity is estimated at 15 million tons of LNG per year, which is about 16% of US LNG exports.

According to the Energy Information Administration (EIA) of the US Department of Energy, in January-April 2022, the EU and the UK increased LNG imports from the US by more than three times compared to the same period last year. At the same time, the United States now exports about 74% of its LNG to Europe, while supplies to Asia have fallen by 51%.