The United States became the top liquefied natural gas (LNG) exporter in the first half of 2022, the Energy Information Administration (EIA) said, as the country increased supply to Europe amid the Ukraine crisis.

U.S. LNG exports rose 12 percent to an average of 11.2 billion cubic feet per day in the first half of the year compared with the second half of 2021, the EIA said. Increased LNG export capacity, higher prices, and demand, particularly from Europe, helped boost exports.

Benchmark gas prices in Europe have averaged $34.06 per million British thermal units so far in 2022 compared with $29.99 in Asia and $6.12 in the U.S.

About 71 percent of U.S. LNG exports went to the European Union (EU) and Britain during the first five months of this year, EIA said.

Despite the unexpected increase from the U.S., the EU still finds itself in a precarious position heading into the high-use winter season. Europe faces a further gas squeeze this week, after Russia's Gazprom said it would again slash flows through the Nord Stream 1 pipeline.

Russia supplied 40 percent of EU gas before the Russia-Ukraine conflict in late February.

LNG exports have been growing dramatically over the last several years as countries worldwide seek to diversify away from dirtier coal plants. However, it takes several years to build new facilities, and the U.S. is not expected to add substantial new capacity until at least 2024.

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(With input from Reuters)