Business this week

A global shortage of natural-gas supplies continued to convulse markets. Prices have soared in recent weeks, especially in Europe, following a convergence of adverse factors, such as booming demand in Asia coinciding with tight stocks of liquefied natural gas. In Europe some governments are stepping in to alleviate the pressure on spiralling household bills. The International Energy Agency pointed out that Russia’s gas exports to Europe are below their level of 2019, and urged it to “do more to increase gas availability”.