Rising liquefied natural gas supply and demand has led to dramatic changes in the global gas market over the past 11 years, according to the International Gas Union’s Wholesale Gas Price Survey 2019 Edition.
Today’s U.S. consumers, businesses and industries are consuming more natural gas, even as there is an increasing share of spot LNG cargoes in LNG imports. That has led to the share of gas-on-gas competition rising again—by half a percentage point to 47 percent between the 2017 and 2018 surveys. Since 2005, the share of gas-on-gas competition has risen by almost 16 percentage points.
This past year marked the most significant change in LNG imports since the IGU began its survey in 2005. Much of that was driven by a general rise in spot LNG cargoes. Its share reached just over 30 percent of total LNG imports in 2018, an increase of 65 billion cubic meters since 2016.
Deeper analysis has also found that global gas prices have been converging continuously since 2005. This trend is even more marked when North American countries are excluded. Increased LNG trade, increased market-related pricing and gas hub development are the key factors.