Eurogas: Gas demand in EU countries to decrease more than 6 percent

Azerbaijan, Baku, March 18 / Trend , A.Badalova/

According to Eurogas - the European Union of the Natural Gas Industry, the demand for gas in the 27 EU countries in 2009 decreased 6.4 percent to 484 billion cubic meters compared to 2008.

The report of Eurogas, posted on its official website, says that by the end of 2009 the total number of gas consumers connected to the gas network of the European Union grew by one percent to 114 million consumers.

The greatest gas demand in 2009 among the EU countries was observed in the UK - 92.7 billion cubic meters, which is 7.8 percent below demand in 2008. The lowest demand in the past year was observed in Estonia and Slovenia - 0.9 billion cubic meters, which is 15.1 percent below the level of demand in 2008. The greatest reduction in gas demand among the European countries in last year was recorded in Bulgaria - 21.8 percent. Growth in gas demand last year was observed in Belgium (1.7 percent), Luxembourg (1.8 percent) and Sweden (32.6 percent). In Turkey, the gas demand in 2009 fell by 10.8 percent to 32.2 billion cubic meters.

Economic recession in the EU countries had a significant impact on the energy sector in 2009, the report says. According to Eurogas, domestic gas production in EU countries last year fell by 10 percent to 182 billion cubic meters.

Nevertheless, the main source of gas supply in the EU is the internal production, of which share in total supplies to the region in 2009 was 36 percent. The main external sources of supply in the EU are Russia (22 percent), Norway (19 percent) and Algeria (10 percent).

As stated in the report of Eurogas, published earlier, by 2030, Europe can increase gas imports to 74 percent. The share of natural gas in the energy structure in Europe is projected by Eurogas to increase 30 percent by the indicated year from 24 percent in 2009.

Comparative table of gas demand in EU countries in 2008 and 2009 (in billion cubic meters):