European natural-gas prices remained well supported, and ING said “the market and [EU] member countries are becoming increasingly concerned about the task of refilling storage through the injection season and the fact that the forward curve provides no incentive to store gas for next winter.

Europe is increasingly reliant on its ability to attract LNG following the loss of Russian gas through Ukraine, as it depletes its gas in storage. The EU’s gas storage was 59 per cent full as of Monday, 15 per cent below the same time last year, according to industry body Gas Infrastructure Europe. Colder weather contributed to a faster withdrawal.

Energy company Venture Global prices 70 million shares at $25 — the middle of its reduced $23-$27 price range.

The question hovering over expanding U.S. LNG exports to Europe has been price sensitivity and the willingness of individual European countries to wean themselves off the cheaper Russian LNG.