Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has triggered a major energy supplyand security crisis that has sent commodity prices to new highs,with wider implications for the global economy.

The conflict has put further considerable pressure on natural gasmarkets and raised uncertainty in the context of an already tightmarket. Europe has been at the epicentre of market tensions sincethe beginning of the heating season, resulting from the combinationof lower than average underground storage inventory – principallyfrom sites partly owned or controlled by Gazprom – and a sharpyear-on-year drop in Russian pipeline supplies. Lower Russiansupplies have largely been compensated by LNG, turning Europeinto the premium market and drawing cargoes away fromAsia Pacific and other regions. The resulting tight supply, highprices, and heightened market uncertainty have led to a downwardrevision in global gas consumption growth, which as a result isexpected to turn negative for 2022.