Qatargas will stop three of the world's biggest liquefied natural gas producing plants at different times during a rolling maintenance program planned for this autumn.

European gas prices leapt on Friday after traders with knowledge of the situation revealed that Qatargas trains 5, 6 and 7 would shut consecutively for around two weeks each from mid September to early November when heating demand from big buyers in Europe and north-east Asia climbs as temperatures fall.

Qatargas did not give exact dates or durations for the closures of the plants.

The company operates seven LNG trains with a capacity of 42 million tonnes per annum but has signed several deals since March to sell more LNG to new markets in addition to Japan.

(Sourced from gulfnews.com)