EU gas demand has shown a year-on-year increase for the seventh successive quarter, helped by the economic recovery and a continuous expansion of gas use in the power sector, the European Commission (EC) announced on Friday.
According to the Quarterly Report on European Gas Markets, EU gas consumption increased by 14 percent year-on-year in the third quarter of 2017.
"This means consumption has increased for the seventh consecutive quarter," the EC noted.
EU gas production decreased by an estimated 9 percent year-on-year in the third quarter of 2017, the report showed.
EC noted that pipeline imports from North Africa significantly decreased but this was more than offset by increasing flows from Russia and Norway, as well as rising LNG imports.
The share of LNG from total imports reached 16 percent in both the second and third quarters of 2017, the highest level in the last four years.
"This was facilitated by a convergence of Asian and European LNG prices," the EC explained.
The U.S. was the fifth largest LNG supplier of the EU in the third quarter, covering 6 percent of total LNG imports, the EC said, adding that Lithuania became the eighth member state to import LNG from the U.S.
(Anadolu Agency)
