Natural gas markets: Price swings amid a shifting global landscape

This blog post is part of a special series based on the April 2025 Commodity Markets Outlook, a flagship report published by the World Bank. This series features concise summaries of commodity-specific sections extracted from the report. Explore the full report here.

The World Bank’s natural gas price index retreated in April and May after reaching a two-year high in February. The U.S. benchmark price declined by 18 percent and 8 percent month-on-month (m/m) in April and May, after surging by 70 percent in 2025Q1 (q/q). The recent decline reflects the resolution of previous supply disruptions and weakening demand for Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) in Asia. Following a 12 percent drop in April (m/m), the European benchmark remained largely unchanged in May, erasing all gains made in 2024Q4 and 2025Q1. The decline reflects waning competition from East Asia for LNG supplies, despite upward price pressure from low inventories. Japan’s benchmark LNG price has been relatively steady, held back by the effect of moderating oil prices on oil-indexed LNG contracts and by soft demand in the region amid mild weather.