US liquefied natural gas (LNG) exporters have become the main winners of Europe’s gas supply crisis, with February being the third consecutive month in which they exported record quantities to the EU, while prices exploded after the invasion of Ukraine by Russia, Reuters reports, according to Agerpres.

Europe’s benchmark prices for natural gas have recently reached record highs as US LNG exporters complete projects that have been under development for several years to deliver shale gas to international markets.

A number of major US developers such as Cheniere Energy Inc, the largest US exporter, are among the main beneficiaries after signing numerous long-term agreements to sell LNG in recent months, say traders consulted by Reuters.

Other winners are commodity traders such as Trafigura and Gunvor, as well as a number of Japanese trading firms that have positions in US gas liquefaction terminals and have redirected cargo to European markets that was originally destined to reach other regions.

“The US and its LNG producers are taking advantage of Europe’s gas shortages and will continue to take advantage if supplies from Russia are penalized,” said a European trader.

Russia is a major global oil exporter and supplies about 40 percent of Europe’s natural gas needs.

Spot prices for liquefied gas reached a record high of nearly $60 per million British thermal units (mmBtu) last week after the invasion of Ukraine, almost 10 times more than a year ago.

Prices could rise again after the US announced an embargo on Russian oil and gas exports on Tuesday.

The U.S. Energy Intelligence Agency predicts that US liquefied gas exports will reach 322 million cubic meters per day in 2022 and will account for about 22% of global LNG demand in 2023, so that the US will overtake both Australia and Qatar as currently the world’s largest exporter, according to analysts at Goldman Sachs.