Investors deserve hedging tools as European natural gas futures come of age

The energy crisis of 2022, triggered by the Russian invasion of Ukraine in a significant escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, which started in 2014, profoundly changed the energy markets of the European Union. Before the invasion in 2022, the European Union was highly dependent on Russian hydrocarbon imports. In 2021, EU countries imported 155 billion cubic metres (bcm) of Russian natural gas, which accounted for about 45 per cent of total gas imports. The Nord Stream pipeline – a new gas pipeline between Russia and Germany – was suspended just before its planned opening.