BAKU, Azerbaijan, Apr.11. In 2021 as whole, EU countries imported 80 bcm of LNG, which was lower than in 2020 (84 bcm), Trend reports with reference to the European Commission.
In 2021, Spain imported 21.4 bcm, followed by France (18.1 bcm), Italy (9.3 bcm), the Netherlands (8.6 bcm) and Portugal (5.9 bcm). In 2021, the UK imported 15.1 bcm of LNG, down from 17.9 bcm in 2020.
LNG imports in the EU grew significantly, by 33 percent in Q4 2021 in year-on-year comparison, after decreasing by 9 percent in the previous quarter and stagnating in the second quarter of 2021. Looking at the three months of the quarter, EU LNG imports were up by 27 percent in October, by 19 percent in November and by 53 percent in December, compared to the same months of 2020.
In January and February 2022 EU LNG imports more than doubled year-on-year, owing to European wholesale gas premiums to Asia. The quarterly LNG imports in Q4 2021 in the EU were 22.1 bcm, up from 17.1 bcm in the previous quarter and up from 16.6 bcm in Q4 2020. The total number of LNG cargoes arrived in the EU was 302 in Q4 2021, up from 245 in Q3 2021, and from 229 in Q4 2020.
In Q4 2021, Spain was the biggest LNG importer in the EU, importing 7.2 bcm of LNG, ahead of France, where LNG imports amounted to 4.4 bcm. In year-on-year comparison imports were up by 65 percent in Spain, whereas in France they rose by 10 percent. LNG imports in the Netherlands more than doubled in Q4 2021 year-on-year, amounting to 2.8 bcm. Belgium and Italy were the fourth and fifth biggest importers, (both with 1.7 bcm, Belgium up by 97 percent and Italy down by 30 percent year-on-year). Portugal came to the sixth place, importing 1.5 bcm (+5 percent year-on-year), followed by Poland (1 bcm, +27 percent year-on-year).
Croatia, starting to import LNG only in 2021, had a quarterly import of 0.4 bcm in Q4 2021. The total EU LNG imports amounted to an estimated €23.3 billion in Q4 2021, up from €2.7 billion a year before, principally owing to the impact of sharply increasing wholesale gas prices (rising to more than six-fold) year-on-year, and also to the increase in imported volumes.
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