The war in Ukraine and years of underinvestment have placed the global natural gas market in an “unstable equilibrium” that could linger for decades without additional funding for upstream production and LNG infrastructure, according to the International Gas Union (IGU).

In its annual Global Gas Report, the IGU and contributors from Rystad Energy AS and Snam SpA outlined how a surge in liquefied natural gas, mostly from the United States, has helped ease price spikes from record levels following the invasion of Ukraine last year.

However, prices are still well above pre-war levels and a razor-thin global supply balance has led to more volatile price swings. Looking into the mid-term, IGU researchers said a failure to secure natural gas supply growth could derail energy...