Current situation and future perspectives of European natural gas sector

Abstract

Gas market in Europe is experiencing a radical change for different reasons, partially determined and accelerated by economic downturn of the last period. In the past few years, many European countries adopted energy policies largely based on the utilization of natural gas. In fact, a sharp increase of the demand was observed and, at the same time, a lot of infrastructures were developed to assure the necessary supply. In the last few years, due to the economic downturn, natural gas demand decreased, causing a consistent oversupply on the market, which altered the consolidated dynamics of the sector. Understanding the changes currently under development in the European gas market is of paramount importance in order to design future strategies for the sector; in particular, it is necessary to understand if the present situation will cause a reshaping of the sector.

Graphical abstract

Keywords

natural gas / natural gas market / oil-linked contracts / supply infrastructures / gas hubs

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2014 Higher Education Press and Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg