According to a report by the Gas Exporting Countries Forum (GECF), gas consumption fell sharply in January in several regions of the world, most notably in the European Union (-19%) and the United Kingdom (-16%). Wednesday, quoted by AFP.
The report, inspired in its form by one published by OPEC, the oil-exporting cartel, is the first of its kind for the group of gas-producing countries formed around Qatar.
In this first monthly issue, he notes that “weather conditions have a significant impact on gas consumption.”
According to the report, citing various sources, the European Union consumed 19% less gas in January than in January 2022, by 40 billion cubic meters, mainly due to high temperatures that minimized heating demand.
Energy-saving efforts have also reduced gas consumption in the EU, with industrial consumers curtailing its use “due to high prices in the European market”, the report added.
The same applies to the UK, where the report points to a mild winter, high prices and higher capacity in hydro (+32% in January compared to a year ago), wind (+30%) and solar (+3%). as factors contributing to a 16% decrease in consumption to 7.4 billion cubic meters.
In the European Union, gas used in power plants fell by 13% in January compared to last year in favor of coal (+24%) and hydropower (+8%).
In the US, moderate temperatures and a slowdown in industrial activity are cited as the reasons for the drop in gas consumption by 8.8% to 92 billion cubic meters.
The report also examines several Asian countries, but on the basis of heterogeneous comparisons.
The collapse of Russian supplies
However, it documents the collapse of Russian pipeline supplies (-55% in January) and the rise of Norwegian gas, which provided 47% of pipeline supplies to the EU in 2022.
As for liquefied natural gas, global imports fell in January for the first time since February 2021 (-1.4% year-on-year to 36.7 million tons), with the exception of Europe, where supplies increased (+6%, to 12, 2 million tons). tons) to compensate for gas supplied by Russia.
Source: Hot News
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