European gas prices spiked earlier this month as workers at three LNG facilities in Australia threatened industrial action. Strikes were avoided at one of the facilities, but the danger remained for the other two, keeping a floor under gas prices. But over the past year, attempts have been made to put a sort of a ceiling on gas prices in Europe—and more specifically, LNG prices. The effort is beginning to pay off. Until last year, the global LNG market featured long-term contracts indexed to crude oil futures prices, and spot deals. After…
