EU gas use dropped to 295 Bcm in 2023 on demand reduction efforts: Simson

EU gas consumption fell to 295 Bcm in 2023 thanks to the build-out of renewable power generation, gas demand reduction efforts and increased energy efficiency, the EU's energy commissioner Kadri Simson said April 4.

The EU consumption level was a 15.7% reduction compared with the volume consumed in 2022 of 350 Bcm.

Speaking at a forum in Sydney, Australia, Simson also stressed the need to retain a focus on energy security and praised Australia's role in the global LNG market.

"[The EU] secured gas from alternatives sources and suppliers, resulting in us slashing our imports of Russian gas," Simson said, according to an EU transcript of her comments.

"For geographic reasons this did not, beyond some small cargoes in 2022, include Australia, but in ensuring supply to the Asian markets, Australia helped free up supply for us," she said.

Australia exported some 79.8 million mt (110 Bcm) of LNG in 2023, with Japan, China, South Korea and Taiwan easily the biggest buyers, according to data from S&P Global Commodity Insights.

Very small volumes of Australian LNG were landed in Spain and the Netherlands in 2022, the data showed.

Last year, the EU looked mostly to the US for its LNG supply, importing some 45.6 million mt from US export facilities.

Simson said the EU continued to accelerate its clean energy transition, deploying a record 73 GW of renewables in 2023, which displaced some 13 Bcm of gas imports.

"The unprecedented energy crisis underlined that energy security and the clean energy transition are two sides of the same coin," Simson said.

"Our ambition to accelerate the transition and decarbonize the energy sector puts Europe on a path towards climate neutrality by 2050. But it also reduces our energy dependence on any one supplier and makes our supply more secure."

Demand measures

The EU Council on March 25 formally adopted a recommendation that encourages member states to continue reducing their gas consumption by at least 15% until the end of March 2025.

Emergency legislation that included the voluntary 15% demand reduction target expired on March 31, but EU member states agreed earlier that month to extend the measures under a recommendation until the end of next winter.

The new recommendation urges member states to reduce gas demand by at least 15% compared with their average gas consumption from April 1, 2017, to March 31, 2022.

Meanwhile, Simson also issued April 4 a joint statement with Australian energy minister Chris Bowen and resources minister Madeleine King in which they stressed continued cooperation on international energy security matters.

"They agreed the importance of ensuring efficient information exchange to support appropriate forecasting of future gas supply, noting the work the IEA is leading to develop an LNG 'Early Warning Mechanism'," the statement read.

"They agreed on the importance of stable LNG markets in ensuring global energy security and accessibility, particularly for middle-income countries in the Indo-Pacific," it read.

Spot LNG prices for delivery into Asia continue to trade below $10/MMBtu and remain well down on their 2022 record highs.

Platts, part of S&P Global Commodity Insights, assessed the benchmark JKM price for delivery into Northeast Asia at $9.45/MMBtu on April 4.