EU gas consumption in January was highest in two years

Natural gas consumption in the EU reached its highest monthly level in two years this January. According to Eurostat, it was nearly 9 percent higher than in January last year, driven by colder weather this year. Apart from Germany, consumption rose most strongly in the Baltics and Finland, supported by severe frosts.

Although this January was still warmer than average, it was significantly colder than January last year. The warm start to the month also contributed to the continuing decline in natural gas prices. Prices were later supported by cold weather in the middle of the month, which pushed up consumption in Europe and limited LNG exports from the US.

On average, gas consumption in the EU rose by 8.8 % year-on-year in January, according to preliminary Eurostat data. Among the EU countries with the highest gas consumption – Germany, the Netherlands, Spain, Italy and France – consumption according to Argus rose most year-on-year in the Netherlands, by nearly 22 %.

Germany somewhat bucked the European trend, cutting consumption by 2 % compared with January last year, according to Eurostat data. However, this conflicts with data from German market operator THE, whose figures, according to Argus, show an increase of 16 %. This increase includes both low- and high-calorific gas; for high-calorific gas, growth was even stronger at 19 %.

According to Argus, it is not entirely clear what accounts for such a large difference in reported consumption. Eurostat told the publication that its data comes from the German statistical office Destatis. When comparing data from both sources, Argus found no major differences except for January 2023. In that case, the statistical office’s data shows significantly higher consumption in January 2023 than THE’s data, which is the reason for the year-on-year decline.

In Germany, gas-fired generation rose year-on-year to 6.5 TWh this January, compared with 5 TWh in January last year. Argus further estimates that industrial gas consumption rose by 5 % year-on-year.

Severe frost drove growth in the Baltics and Finland

From a regional perspective, the highest year-on-year growth in consumption was seen in the Baltics and Finland. Demand there was supported in January by severe frosts, which affected mainly eastern and northern Europe. Elsewhere in Europe, the weather was not as frosty, but was still colder than in January last year. Nevertheless, gas consumption this January was still 15 % lower than the 2017-2021 average, according to Argus.