Natural gas consumption in the European Union 1998-2023

The consumption of natural gas in the European Union has fluctuated since 1998. It increased to a peak of 423.2 billion cubic meters in 2010, but by 2022 had fallen to around 319.5 billion cubic meters. Natural gas consumption in the EU was only lower than oil consumption, despite the overall decrease. Production of natural gas in declineAlthough the consumption of natural gas is expected to increase across the region, production in the EU has fallen significantly over the past two decades. By 2021 had fallen by approximately 81 percent.EU reliant on Russian exports  With the production of natural gas in decline, the EU is expected to become more reliant on international imports. Overall, there was a six percent increase of imports in 2019 when compared to the previous year. Currently, the main exporter of gas to the EU is Russia, who in 2017 exported 39 percent of all imports. Plans for a 746-mile gas pipeline from Russia to Germany in the Baltic Sea are set to go ahead. The Nord Stream 2 project has received critics from the US and EU over fears it will increase Europe’s reliance on gas imports from Russia.

自1998年以来，欧盟的天然气消费量波动不定。2010年达到峰值，为423.2亿立方米，但到2022年已下降至约319.5亿立方米。尽管总体呈下降趋势，欧盟的天然气消费量仍低于石油消费量。尽管天然气消费量预计将在整个地区增加，但欧盟在过去二十年中的天然气产量却显著下降。到2021年，产量下降了约81%。欧盟依赖俄罗斯出口。随着天然气产量的下降，欧盟预计将更加依赖国际进口。与上一年相比，2019年的进口总量增长了6%。目前，向欧盟出口天然气的主要国家是俄罗斯，2017年俄罗斯出口了所有进口量的39%。从俄罗斯到德国的波罗的海746英里天然气管道项目预计将按计划进行。Nord Stream 2项目因担心会增加欧洲对俄罗斯天然气进口的依赖，受到了美国和欧盟的批评。