BAKU, Azerbaijan, Jan.13
By Leman Zeynalova - Trend:
Europe’s net gas imports decreased by 6 percent in the third quarter of 2020 (year-on-year), as gas consumption remained practically stable, domestic production in the EU decreased and less intensive gas storage refilling needs resulted in lower demand than in Q3 2019, Trend reports citing the European Commission.
“Net imports in different EU countries showed a high variation in Q3 2020, ranging from a decrease of 59 percent (in Austria) to an increase of 136 percent (in Malta, though by marginal value, 0.1 bcm) and in the Netherlands (by 81 percent, 3.3 bcm) in year-on-year comparison. Among big gas consumer countries net imports decreased in Romania (40 percent), Spain and Germany (15 percent both), France (13 percent), Italy (7 percent), whereas in Netherlands it rose significantly (by 81 percent),” the European Commission said in a report.
According to ENTSO-G data, net imports amounted to 846 TWh in the third quarter of 2020, of which 78 percent through pipelines and 22 percent through LNG terminals. Pipeline gas imports from Russia, similarly to the previous quarter, fell significantly, by 20% in year-on-year comparison, as gas transit through the Ukrainian route was much lower compared to the same period of 2019.
In the three quarters of 2020 gas imports in the EU fell by 10 percent, in year-on-year comparison, as result of 22 percent less import from Russia, an increase of 2 percent in Norwegian imports, whereas gas imports from Algeria and Libya fell steeply (both by 20 percent). LNG imports remained practically unchanged in the same period.
In the third quarter of 2020 EU gas production reached approximately 11.5 bcm, 29 percent (4.7 bcm) less than in the same quarter of 2019. During the whole Q3 2020, similarly to the previous two quarters, gas output was below the 2015-2019 range, reflecting the dwindling trend of gas production in the EU.
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