BAKU, Azerbaijan, Feb.16. The volume of natural gas consumption in the European Union has dropped by 19 percent in January 2023, as compared to January 2022, standing at 40 billion cubic meters, Trend reports with reference to the Gas Exporting Countries Forum (GECF).
GECF’s Monthly Gas Market Report names several factors putting downward pressure on EU gas consumption in the first month of the year:
Above-than-normal temperature, which triggered a bearish trend in heating demand in the residential sector;
Measures on reducing gas demand in line with the EU regulation 2022/1369 of 5 August 2022;
High European hub prices, which led to a decline in the industrial sector consumption.
GECF also marked a 13 percent decrease in gas consumption in the electricity generation in January 2023, as compared to the same month in 2022, with total electricity output declining by 3 percent year-on-year standing at 241 TWh.
The report reveals that higher gas-to-coal switching due to higher natural gas prices put downward pressure on the use of natural gas in electricity production. Other factors contributing to this process include higher hydro output, as well as a decrease in Spain’s electricity supplies to France, which it primarily produces from gas.
The latest data from the European Commission reveals that EU gas consumption in the third quarter of 2022 fell further, by 7.9 percent (-5.1 bcm) in year-on-year comparison, after decreasing by 16.5 percent in Q2 2022 and by 7.6% in Q1 2022. In absolute numbers, the quarterly gas consumption in Q3 2022 amounted to an estimated 59.3 bcm, down from 64.4 bcm in Q3 2021, and from the consumption of the previous spring-quarter, Q2 2022 (70.9 bcm), which included the end of the heating season.
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