Wholesale Gas Price Survey 2025 Edition

Today, 25 June 2025, the International Gas Union (IGU) has launched its latest Wholesale Gas Price Survey (WGPS) report, now in its 17th edition.

Since the Survey inception in 2005, natural gas markets have undergone a significant transformation, with gas-on-gas (GOG) competition constantly increasing, largely at the expense of oil-price-escalation (OPE) pricing, and other forms of regulated pricing.

Between 2005 and 2024, the GOG share of global Gas consumption rose from 31.5% to 49%, while the oil-price-escalation (OPE) indexed price mechanism share fell from 24% to 18.5%.

Europe is dominated by GOG, with almost all of its domestic production, 80% of pipeline imports, and 78% of LNG imports priced with GOG. The natural gas market in Europe has changed dramatically over the past 20 years: in 2005, Europe’s natural gas prices were split between 63% OPE and 37% GOG, whereas today they are split between 3% OPE and 97% GOG. OPE is still the largest category in most Asian countries.

The total GOG share of LNG imports has also nearly doubled between 2016 (25%) and 2024, when it has risen to just over 50% of all LNG trade.

This year’s report also sees average global wholesale natural gas prices falling to $4.88 per MMBTU in 2024, only slightly above the average in the mid to late 2010s, and down from a peak of $9.45 per MMBTU in 2022.

Menelaos (Mel) Ydreos, the Secretary General of the IGU, said:

“For almost 20 years now, we have carefully traced the Gas price formation mechanisms, and their evolution and pattern changes over these past two decades tell a story in numbers, one which is deeply rooted in global energy use shifts and affordability patterns: Europe has almost completely moved away from oil linked prices for its natural gas supplies, meanwhile Asia is still mostly  tying its natural gas prices to oil price movements.

Given the escalating conflict in Middle East today, the shutdown of several major natural gas producing fields as well as the complexities related to the safe passage of LNG cargo ships through the region’s straits, efficient global natural gas market functioning and liquidity will remain pivotal to energy security and the functioning of the global energy systems.”

===END===

For more information on the 2025 World LNG Report, please contact Mr Mark McCrory, Strategy and Advocacy Director, at mark.mccory@igu.org

 =============

The International Gas Union (IGU) is the spokesperson of the global Gas industry, with members in over 70 countries across the globe, covering over 90% of the global Gas market across every segment of the value chain, from the supply of natural and decarbonised gas, renewable gas and hydrogen, through to their transmission and distribution, and all the way to the point of use.

IGU presents the world’s leading international Gas events, including the International Conference and Exhibition on Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG2026), the International Gas Research Conference (IGRC2027) series and the World Gas Conference (WGC2028).

The IGU also publishes the global Gas industry’s annual flagship reports: Wholesale Gas Price Survey, World LNG Report, and the Global Gas Report, as well as various special reports, such as "Gas for Africa", "Introduction to Low Carbon Gas Technologies" and "The Role of Gas for East Mediterranean Economies and the Path to the Energy Transition”. IGU has also released its Manifesto.

The IGU was established in 1931, is a not-for-profit membership organisation registered in Vevey, Switzerland, with its Secretariat based in London, United Kingdom.