DAEGU, South Korea—Natural gas buyers in Asia and Europe are seeking to lock in supplies via long-term contracts as a buffer against volatile global prices, industry executives said, in moves that will reverse the last decade’s trend of increasing spot purchases.
Fears of disruptions in Russian gas to Europe and low inventories led the continent to import record volumes of spot liquefied natural gas (LNG), driving prices to all-time highs earlier this year and sparking energy security concerns among buyers globally.
Years of low investments mean new supplies are scarce while Russian supplies are at risk just as more countries have switched from coal to gas over the past couple of years when LNG prices had been low….