Qatargas has resumed production at all five of its liquefied natural gas (LNG) trains, a company official said on Monday, knocking prices lower on the London market.

'We have all five trains running,' the official told Reuters.

August contract prices on the London gas market fell by around a per cent immediately following news of the restart, according to one broker, and the market continued to slide to hit 49.50 pence at 1149 GMT.

Qatargas 2 Train 5, which can produce up to 7.8 million tonnes per year of LNG intended for British, European and Asian markets had been under planned maintenance since June.

The official did not specify when production resumed on the fifth train. Qatar is the world's biggest exporter of LNG, or gas cooled to liquid form so it can be transported by tankers.

The size of the new Qatari megatrains - more than twice the capacity of some older ones - means their closure has a much greater impact on global gas supply.

Planned maintenance at three Qatargas LNG production units has helped to tighten global LNG supply and contributed to a surge in UK gas prices.

Qatargas 1 train 3, which can produce 3.2 million tonnes (mtpa) of LNG a year, was shut and then restarted in May.

Qatargas 2 train 4, which largely supplies Britain's South Hook import terminal, was shut in early May.

UK gas prices soared by 57 per cent in the second quarter, more than any other commodity, as continental European buyers gobbled up gas in Britain and little LNG arrived to help satisfy that demand.-Reuters