LNG Expert Group
ACER LNG price assessment body established under the REMIT recast, April 2026.
Last refreshed: 22 April 2026 · Appears in 1 active topic
What does the ACER LNG Expert Group actually measure that TTF and market data cannot?
Timeline for LNG Expert Group
ACER-convened expert body with representation at Forum
European Energy Markets: Mentioned in: Madrid Forum opens with REMIT 2.0Mentioned in: ACER confirms REMIT recast binds from 29 April
European Energy Markets- What is the ACER LNG Expert Group and what does it do?
- The LNG Expert Group is a new body established by ACER under the recast REMIT Implementing Regulation that entered force on 29 April 2026. It produces assessments of LNG prices and market conditions to improve regulatory transparency, reflecting the growing share of LNG in EU gas supply.Source: ACER
- Why did ACER create an LNG Expert Group in April 2026?
- LNG's share of EU gas imports rose from 29% to 38% between 2022 and 2025 as pipeline gas fell away. Existing market surveillance tools were designed for exchange-traded pipeline benchmarks, not the bilateral, destination-flexible spot LNG market that now supplies a large portion of EU gas.Source: ACER
- How does the REMIT recast affect LNG market transparency from April 2026?
- The recast REMIT Implementing Regulation entered force on 29 April 2026, extending LNG transparency requirements and establishing the LNG Expert Group for price assessments. Non-EU reporting intermediaries receive no grandfather clause under the new rules.Source: ACER
Background
The LNG Expert Group is a new body established by ACER (the EU Agency for the Cooperation of Energy Regulators) alongside the recast REMIT Implementing Regulation that entered force on 29 April 2026. The group's mandate covers LNG price transparency: it is tasked with producing assessments of LNG prices and market conditions to improve the quality and comparability of data available to regulators and market participants. The establishment was confirmed in ACER's open letters of April 2026, alongside tightened LNG transparency rules in the recast REMIT text.
The creation of the LNG Expert Group reflects the structural shift in EU gas supply: LNG's share of EU gas imports rose from 29.2% to 37.8% between 2022 and 2025 as pipeline gas fell away, making LNG price formation a first-order regulatory concern. Unlike pipeline gas benchmarks (TTF, NBP, NCG), which are exchange-traded and highly transparent, LNG pricing involves cargo-by-cargo bilateral negotiations, diversion optionality, and destination flexibility that are poorly captured by existing market surveillance frameworks.
The group operates within the REMIT framework, which bans manipulation and insider trading in wholesale energy markets. Its assessments will feed into ACER's market surveillance work and the Commission's broader monitoring of LNG supply adequacy. The group's establishment coincides with the EU's 25 April Russian LNG short-term contract ban entering force, making independent LNG price data an immediate operational requirement for regulators monitoring compliance.