BAKU, Azerbaijan, Apr.9
By Leman Zeynalova - Trend:
Liquified natural gas (LNG) imports in the EU fell by 27 percent in Q4 2020 year-on-year, signalling the third consecutive quarter when a contraction could be observed in a row, Trend reports citing the European Commission.
Looking at the three months of the quarter, EU LNG imports were respectively down by 16 percent in October, by 28 percent in November and by 35 percent in December 2020, in year-on-year comparison, sharply contrasting the rising trend of the end of 2019.
The quarterly LNG import in Q4 2020 in the EU was 16.6 bcm, decreasing from 18.8 bcm in Q3 2020 and from 22.7 bcm in Q4 2019. The total number of LNG cargoes arrived in the EU was 227 in Q4 2020, down from 238 in Q3 2020 and from 293 a year ago in Q4 2019. With the exception of Sweden and Finland, importing marginal amount of LNG (respectively 75 mcm and 57 mcm in Q4 2020) imports decreased in all major EU importer countries in Q4 2020 year-on-year.
In Q4 2020 Spain remained the biggest importer (with a quarterly import of 4.3 bcm, down by 15 percent year-on-year), followed by France, importing 4 bcm, showing a year-on-year fall of 36 percent. Italy was the third biggest importer, (2.4 bcm, falling by 24 percent year-on-year). Portugal imported 1.4 bcm of LNG in Q4 2020 (down by only 1 percent year-on-year), similarly to the Netherlands, where the imports of 1.4 bcm meant a decrease of 31 percent year-on-year. In both Belgium and Poland LNG imports amounted to 0.8 bcm, respectively translating to a fall of 58 percent and 5 percent in Q4 2020.
The total EU LNG imports amounted to an estimated €2.7 billion in Q4 2020, down from €3.2 billion a year before, as the result of sharply decreasing LNG imports year-on-year, whereas in Q4 2020, for the first time since several quarters, the average import price was higher than a year before in the same period (up by 16 percent).
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