According to preliminary data from Cedigaz, the international gas information association, cited by AFP, global gas consumption fell sharply in 2022 after the war in Ukraine and the cessation of Russian gas supplies to Europe.

Global consumption of gas, which is mostly of fossil origin, fell to 4,000 billion cubic meters “against an unprecedented energy crisis and high inflation,” Cedigaz noted.

According to association data contacted by AFP on Wednesday, this is a historic decline after a record 4.5% increase in 2021 and a 2% decline in 2020, a year particularly marked by the Covid-19 pandemic.

But 2022 will go down in history as the year of “the worst natural gas and energy crisis in history due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine,” says Cedigaz, which has about 100 members in 40 countries.

“In particular, in 2022 there was the largest decrease in gas consumption in the history of the EU, by 13%,” the association notes.

Significant declines were also recorded in the CIS countries and Ukraine (-4.6%) and Asia and Oceania (-1.6%), in contrast to growth in North America and the Middle East.

Among the reasons for the drop in consumption are this winter’s cold temperatures, which reduced “residential and commercial gas demand” in the Northern Hemisphere, as well as a slowdown in China’s economy and explosive growth in gas prices, which has reduced industrial demand. and resulted in an energy-saving step.

While Russian gas played a “dominant role” in Europe’s energy supply, pipeline gas exports to Europe “fell to their lowest level since the mid-1980s, resulting in a loss of 77 billion cubic meters, equivalent to 20% of EU gas consumption in 2021.” , – states Cedigaz.

In this context, world natural gas production remained stable. “The sudden loss of Russian gas sales was offset by a significant increase in production in the United States (+41 bcm) due to a ‘rapid acceleration of LNG supplies’ (liquefied natural gas).