Global Gas Market Overview: Current Situation and Trends

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Global gas prices, including those for Russian gas, are determined based on international gas and oil product prices.

World gas markets have their key pricing benchmarks. There are several reference indicators, two of which are primary:

1. American market (Henry Hub):

- Current price: fell to $3.4 per million BTU (British Thermal Units) on Monday.

2. European market (TTF):

- Current price: adjusted to $575 per 1,000 cubic meters.

1. Henry Hub - American gas. This is a gas distribution hub located in Louisiana, USA. This benchmark plays a leading role in determining natural gas prices in the US, traded on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The unit of measurement is British Thermal Units (BTU). To convert the price to an equivalent of 1,000 cubic meters, a conversion factor of 35.8 is used. It is important to note that this price reflects the raw material cost only, excluding liquefaction, transportation, and regasification costs. Therefore, the end consumer in the US pays significantly more for gas.

2. TTF - European gas. This is the main benchmark for gas prices in Europe. The name stands for Title Transfer Facility, a virtual gas trading platform.

It is worth noting that gas pricing mechanisms around the world are diverse: they include exchange trading (competitive pricing, as on TTF in Europe), oil-indexation (linking prices to oil), regulated prices, and direct contracts where prices are determined by the balance of supply and demand influencing global benchmarks, including gas prices and the cost of alternative fuels (gas, oil, coal).

Prices for Russian gas, especially for export markets, have traditionally been heavily dependent on oil-indexation, but are now more aligned with spot markets and competitive mechanisms, although the link to energy prices remains.

This overview was presented by Alexey Grishchenko, Doctor of Economics, Professor at the Department of Operational and Sectoral Management of the Faculty of "Higher School of Management" at the Financial University under the Government of the Russian Federation.