Irina is a writer for Oilprice.com with over a decade of experience writing on the oil and gas industry. In the not-so-distant past, the natural gas spot market was one of the European Union’s great points of pride as it moved towards a future powered by renewables. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine combined with declining investment, long lead times on new projects, and emissions regulations have created a supply crisis. Now, the European Union and other gas importers are coming to terms with the fact that long-term LNG contracts are the only way forward. Several years ago, the leaders of the European Union sat back contentedly and watched the spot market for the natural gas they had put so much effort into working like a well-oiled machine. Gas was cheap and there was plenty of it to go around. Then, all of a sudden, things changed dramatically. The spot gas […]