Fire at US natural gas plant deals blow to exports

One of the biggest US liquefied natural gas plants will be closed for at least three weeks after an explosion, dealing a blow to exports at a time when the industry is trying to boost supplies to Europe.

Freeport LNG said on Wednesday that it had been forced to halt its operations, which account for almost a fifth of US liquefaction capacity, a process by which natural gas is supercooled and loaded on to tankers for delivery…