European natural gas prices surged nearly 40% Tuesday after a production halt at the world’s largest liquefied natural gas export facility in Qatar rattled markets, stoking concerns over global supply.

The Dutch TTF front-month contract jumped 38.9% to 61.77 euros a megawatt-hour in afternoon trading, the highest level since early 2023.

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State-owned QatarEnergy halted production of aluminum and several chemicals a day after an Iranian strike forced it to shut off production at the Ras Laffan complex, the world’s largest liquefied-natural-gas export facility.

“This is the biggest threat to world gas markets since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022,” analysts at ANZ said.

Qatar is the world’s second-largest LNG exporter. It mainly supplies customers in Asia, though any prolonged outage would likely force European and Asian importers to compete for limited spot cargoes, pushing prices higher in both regions.

The disruption came as the market was already grappling with the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz, a critical shipping route at the mouth of the Persian Gulf handling more than 20% of the world’s LNG supply.

The timing is particularly sensitive for Europe. With the heating season nearing its end and inventories well below seasonal norms, the region will face mounting pressure to rebuild storage ahead of next winter.

Alternative supplies, meanwhile, remain limited. While the U.S. could boost exports, traders say additional volumes wouldn’t be enough to offset prolonged losses of Qatari output.

Write to Giulia Petroni at giulia.petroni@wsj.com

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