The European Energy Crisis and the Consequences for the Global Natural Gas Market

The Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 led to severe disruptions in the European gas market with significant repercussions on a global scale. The conflict caused a surge in energy prices, a major reshuffling of global natural gas flows, and a shift in the policy-makers’ agendas toward energy supply security. This paper provides a comprehensive review of the developments in the global gas market in the aftermath of the war in Ukraine, focusing in particular on the European gas market and on global LNG trade flows. We first review the characteristics of the gas market in terms of both pricing benchmarks and contractual terms. Next, we analyze the changes to LNG and natural gas production, consumption, and trade flows throughout the European energy crisis. Finally, we review the main policy response to the energy crisis and present some considerations on the gas market outlook. JEL Classification: L95, P28, Q35