Euro Gas

According to preliminary figures and estimates from Eurogas Member Companies and from the natural gas organisations in Greece, Luxembourg and Portugal, total natural gas consumption in Western Europe1 amounted to almost ****5 Petajoule (PJ) ***** **8 billion cubic metres (BCM)2, ***** **9 million tons of oil equivalent (MTOE)3, up by 4.1% in comparison to ***7, when gas consumption in Western Europe reached almost ****5 PJ / **4 BCM / **7 MTOE. This increase confirms the general trend of a steady growth of gas consumption, after the decrease induced by warm weather in ***7 and in spite of even milder weather conditions in some European countries in ***8. The consumption in ***8 sets a new record, well above the previous record level in ***6 of ****8 PJ / **6 BCM / **9 MTOE. The main reasons for this recovery are: - strong increases in gas consumption for power generation (both by power companies and industrial customers for auto-production of electricity); - firm growth of gas consumption in the industrial sector; - steady increase in the numbers of customers in all sectors. The increases in customers numbers confirm the fact that, owing to its environmental and economic benefits, natural gas remains the preferred fuel in the energy market. Over the last 5 years period, natural gas consumption in Western Europe has increased by *6%, and the number of customers by *2%, reaching the level of nearly *8 millions of customers (number of gas sales meters).