Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has triggered a major energy supply and security crisis that has sent commodity prices to new highs, with wider implications for the global economy.
The conflict has put further considerable pressure on natural gas markets and raised uncertainty in the context of an already tight market. Europe has been at the epicentre of market tensions since the beginning of the heating season, resulting from the combination of lower than average underground storage inventory – principally from sites partly owned or controlled by Gazprom – and a sharp year-on-year drop in Russian pipeline supplies. Lower Russian supplies have largely been compensated by LNG, turning Europe into the premium market and drawing cargoes away from Asia Pacific and other regions. Gas trade reconfiguration and wider uncertainty have led to a downward revision in global gas consumption growth, which as a result is expected to turn negative for 2022.
This new issue of the International Energy Agency’s quarterly Gas Market Report features a detailed review of 2021 gas supply and demand fundamentals and figures, an analysis of recent developments in global gas markets during the northern hemisphere’s heating season, and an updated near-term outlook for 2022.
