In the first quarter of 2020production of natural gas in the European Union fell by 23 %, while Romania remained the second largest gas producer in the bloc, according to a report published by the European Commission.
Thus, total EU production in the first three months of the year reached 16 billion cubic meters. The Netherlands is the main producer, with 7.2 billion cubic meters, down from 10.6 billion cubic meters in the first quarter of 2019. In second place, Romania had produced 2.5 billion cubic meters, which is a 5 % decrease from cast year’s 2.6 billion cubic meters.
Romania is followed by Germany, with 1.3 billion cubic meters, down from 1.5 billion cubic meters and Italy, with 1.1 billion cubic meters, compared to 1.3 billion cubic meters in the same period last year.
The report also shows that Q1 gas imports fell by 6 % year-on-year, mainly due to the decline in consumption by 5 % in the same period. In terms of consumption, the largest increase was observed in Malta – 20 %. Consumption also increased in Portugal by17 %, Hungary and Croatia – both by 4 %.
On the other hand, in Romania, Latvia, Finland and Slovakia, gas consumption fell by more than 20 %, while in Estonia it fell by 14%.
