They were saddled with "take or pay" contracts that obliged them to buy fixed quantities of gas far above what they could sell and at prices way above those on the spot market.

他们签署了一系列“照付不议”的合同，必须以大大高于现货市场的价格购买固定数量的天然气，而很大一部分根本就卖不出去。

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This handed an advantage to some smaller European utilities with interconnections to the British spot market when, in 2008, gas prices suddenly fell. Their bigger rivals meanwhile suffered.

在2008年天然气价格突然下跌时，在英国现货市场交易的小型欧洲天然气公司便拥有优势，而其规模更大的对手便受到损失。

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Norway, also a big supplier to EU countries, had begun to sell gas on contracts that tied an even larger fraction to spot prices.

挪威，同样是欧盟天然气的大供应商之一，已经开始以更接近现货价格的定价销售天然气了。

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Last winter spot gas prices quadrupled in four days.

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China will import cheap U.S. gas into Asia, basing prices on spot market fundamentals rather than expensive oil indexed gas contracts.

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