Reduced natural gas drilling in the United States has surprisingly caused European and Asian LNG prices to quickly surge, said Tellurian Inc. chairman and liquefied natural gas (LNG) pioneer Charif Souki during an interview with Columbia University this week.

“America sneezes and the rest of the world catches a cold,” Souki said in a podcast with Columbia University’s Center on Global Energy Policy. Souki co-founded Tellurian, which is developing the 27.6 million metric ton/year (mmty) Driftwood LNG export project in Louisiana. Prior to that, he co-founded Cheniere Energy Inc., the United States’ largest gas exporter.

With the Covid-19 pandemic devastating energy demand, the number of gas-focused drilling rigs in the United States as of last Friday (Aug. 28) had dropped...