U.S. natural gas prices climbed to a new 14-year high on Monday amid fears regarding shortages in Europe prompted by Russia’s plans to shut down the vital Nord Stream 1 gas pipeline at the end of the month.
Russian state gas giant Gazprom last week announced that the pipeline, which links western Russia and Germany, would be shut down for three days of “routine maintenance” from Aug. 31 to Sept. 2.
On Monday, U.S. natural gas futures topped $10 per million British thermal units, the highest since July 2008, driven by strong domestic and international demand.
Prices had previously plunged in June after a fire broke out at the Freeport LNG natural gas liquefaction plant in Texas, shutting the plant down and cutting LNG export capacity by 20 percent. The plant is expected to partially resume exports in October, meaning exports are set to rise….