This comes after a blast occurred in an Austrian gas hub

The explosion was at one of Europe's main hubs. Italy industry minister says the gas blast shows Italy has a serious energy supply problem.

The explosion took place in Baumgarten, Austria - which is the largest gas reception point and main distribution hub in Austria for countries like Russia - which is Europe's biggest gas supplier.

This of course compounds the energy problem faced in Europe after earlier news that the North Sea Forties pipeline system will be closed for several weeks.

But the explosion here impacts natural gas more, and that has sent prices soaring. UK natural gas futures hit a 4-year high at 0.7370 on the back of the news.