Natural gas: Trading
Henry Hub, TTF, JKM: why gas has no world price
What this tab covers How and where it is bought and sold: who buys and sells, exchanges and benchmarks, contract types, the big trading houses and how prices are discovered.Gas has no single world price. North America trades Henry Hub futures on NYMEX; Europe trades the Dutch TTF on ICE Endex and the UK NBP on ICE; Asian LNG is priced off the Platts JKM assessment or oil-linked long-term contracts. Geman notes that continental Europe and Japan long indexed gas to oil products, while the US and UK moved to competitive hubs. LNG contracts often run for decades, but destination limits have loosened and more cargoes trade spot. Portfolio players such as Shell, TotalEnergies and trading houses resell cargoes between basins.
Where it is bought (buyers)
- Utilities and importers in China, Japan, South Korea, India, Taiwan and Europe buy LNG; China took 20.2% and Japan 18.8% of LNG import value in 2024 (UN Comtrade)
- In India, Petronet LNG, GAIL, IOC, BPCL, GSPC and Shell India book LNG and resell to fertiliser plants, city gas firms, refiners and power plants
Where it is sold (sellers)
- LNG sellers: Qatar (30.5% of 2024 LNG export value), Australia (23.9%), the US (15.5%), Malaysia, Russia and portfolio players such as Shell and TotalEnergies (UN Comtrade)
- Pipeline sellers: Norway (39.4% of pipeline gas export value in 2024), Russia, Algeria, Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan
Exchanges and benchmarks
| Venue | Contract | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| CME NYMEX | Henry Hub Natural Gas futures (NG), 10,000 mmbtu, physical delivery in Louisiana | US benchmark and reference for US LNG export contracts |
| ICE Endex | Dutch TTF Natural Gas futures, priced in euro per MWh | Europe's benchmark hub price |
| ICE Futures Europe | UK NBP Natural Gas futures, pence per therm | UK benchmark |
| CME and ICE | JKM LNG swaps and futures, cash-settled on Platts JKM | Asian spot LNG benchmark |
| Indian Gas Exchange (IGX) | Physical spot and term gas delivery at Indian hubs | India's gas exchange, a subsidiary of IEX, launched 2020 |
| MCX (India) | Natural Gas futures, 1,250 mmbtu, rupee-denominated, referencing Henry Hub | Hedging and speculation in India |
Contract types
- Long-term oil-indexed SPAs priced as a percentage slope of Brent (common in Asia and Qatar-India contracts)
- US FOB LNG at 115% of Henry Hub plus a fixed liquefaction fee
- Spot and short-term cargoes priced off JKM or TTF
- India's administered price for legacy domestic gas (10% of the Indian crude basket, with a $6.50/mmbtu ceiling; ONGC realised $6.50 in FY2025)
Top trading houses
- Shell
- TotalEnergies
- BP
- Vitol
- Trafigura
- Gunvor
- JERA Global Markets
- Glencore
How prices are discovered
- S&P Global Platts JKM (Japan-Korea Marker) and WIM (West India Marker)
- Argus and ICIS hub and LNG assessments
- ICE TTF and NYMEX Henry Hub futures settlements
- Government-notified domestic gas prices in India (Ministry of Petroleum and PPAC, monthly)