Baku, Azerbaijan, July 1
By Leman Zeynalova – Trend:
In the first quarter of 2019 EU gas production was 30.8 billion cubic meters (bcm), 8 percent (2.7 bcm) less than in the same period of 2018, Trend reports with reference to the European Commission.
The quarterly report on European gas markets, published on the European Commission’s website shows that during the whole Q1 2019 gas output was below the 2014-2018 range, reinforcing the decreasing trend of domestic production in the EU.
“In the Netherlands natural gas production decreased by 11 percent (1.3 bcm) and in the UK it fell by 5 percent (0.5 bcm) in the first quarter of 2019 in year-on-year comparison. Looking at the following six largest producers, gas output decreased in Ireland (-23 percent, 0.2 bcm, in spite of measurable increases over the last couple of years), Denmark (-12 percent, 0.1 bcm), Italy (-7 percent, 0.1 bcm), Germany (-5 percent, 0.1 bcm), Romania (-3 percent, 0.1 bcm) and in Poland (-2 percent, 0.03 bcm),” said the Commission.
During the 2018 gas winter period (stretching from 1 October 2018 to 31 March 2019) gas production in the Dutch Groningen field amounted to 9.9 bcm, which was 2 bcm lower than in the previous gas winter period, reads the report.
“Assuming that the output is the same during the summer period (until 30 September 2019) as in the same period of 2018, the total gas production from the Groningen field would be 25 percent less than the target set by the Dutch government. However, it is important to recall that other fields continue to produce gas and competitive LNG imports in the Netherlands ensured secure natural gas supply in Q1 2019,” said the European Commission.
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