Figures released by international energy study group Eurogas show that gas consumption in the 25 EU member states was up by nearly 2% in 2005, reaching 492.5 bcm.
Eurogas’ figures, reported by Platts, say that the largest rise in gas demand in the EU was seen in Spain, with an increase of 17.7% compared to the year before leading to a total demand of 34.7 bcm. Spain was followed by Portugal, Italy and Greece in seeing demand rise.
The total number of gas customers in Europe rose to 103.5 billion customers across the region – a 1.5% rise on the prior year. The UK remains the EU’s largest single gas market, consuming 95.1 bcm, followed by Germany (88.7 bcm) and Italy (84.2 bcm).