Understanding Worldwide Natural Gas Trade Flow for 2017 to 2022: A Network-Based Approach

Natural gas is a critical commodity in the global economy, and its trade dynamics and price movements are of significant interest, particularly during times of major economic disruptions. In this research, we investigate the natural gas trade from 2017–2022 using UN Comtrade data. Our goal is to identify patterns in countries’ reliance on specific gas exporters and their strategies for reducing the risk of supply disruptions. To achieve this, we analyze trade flows between countries using graph theory methods and construct networks that illustrate these flows. Our findings indicate that the gas trade network has become more interconnected over time, suggesting increasing globalization. In addition, we create year-over-year (YoY) networks that capture changes in natural gas prices for each year. Our analysis shows that, while natural gas prices have generally increased over time, there was a decrease in the price of gas exports from the Russian Federation to Serbia and Armenia in 2022 compared to 2021. Our research provides insights into the evolution of the natural gas trade and its price fluctuations, and the proposed methodology can be extended to other globally important commodities.