European and Asian natural gas prices continued soaring higher Wednesday with the market on edge about two key supply outages in Russia and the United States.

Word on Tuesday that the liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal on Quintana Island, TX, Freeport LNG, won’t enter full service until later this year after an explosion, as well as reduced volumes on Nord Stream 1 (NS1) sent international prices higher. Both the Title Transfer Facility (TTF) and National Balancing Point prompt contracts gained more than $7 to finish above $30/MMBtu. 

NS1 is one of the largest routes for moving Russian gas to Europe, but maintenance issues are set to cut deliveries by nearly 60%. Russia is Europe’s largest gas supplier. Moreover, roughly three-quarters of all U.S. LNG volumes have made...