BAKU, Azerbaijan, Oct.12
By Leman Zeynalova – Trend:
In the second quarter of 2020 EU gas production reached approximately 14.8 bcm, 14 percent (2.5 bcm) less than in the same quarter of 2019, Trend reports citing the European Commission.
During the whole Q2 2020 gas output was below the 2015-2019 range, reflecting the dwindling trend of gas production in the EU. In the biggest EU producer Netherlands natural gas production in Q2 2020 decreased by 16 percent (by 1.3 bcm), amounting to 6.8 bcm, being the lowest since Q3 2015.
For the first time, total gas production from the Groningen field fell below 0.5 bcm in June 20209 , owing to the high flexibility of Dutch supply, with storage levels significant, low LNG prices and the economy contracting due to the coronavirus pandemic. The production gap for the biggest Groningen gas field was set to 11.8 bcm for the gas year 2019 (1 October 2019 to 30 September 2020), which will be further diminished for the gas year starting in October 2020 (9.3 bcm).
In Romania, being the second biggest gas producer in the EU, production went down by 17 percent (1.2 bcm), falling to 2 bcm in Q2 2020, which was the lowest in the last six years. Gas output in Denmark showed a very strong decrease (by 65 percent, 0.7 bcm year-on-year, principally owing to the suspension of production at the Tyra fields in the Danish North Sea, ahead of the redevelopment10 until 2022), and in Germany, Italy and Ireland production went down by 0.2 bcm each (in percentage change respectively by 11 percent, 20 percent and 22 percent).
Germany produced 1.3 bcm natural gas, whereas Italy had a production of 1 bcm, and Ireland and Denmark respectively produced 0.5 bcm and 0.4 bcm. In the first half of 2020 gas production in the EU amounted to 30.5 bcm, down from 37.7 bcm in the first half of 2019. The Netherlands produced 14 bcm gas (vs. 18.7 bcm a year before), followed by 4.6 bcm in Romania (5.1 bcm in the first half of 2019) and by Germany (2.6 bcm vs 3 bcm a year before). The United Kingdom managed to increase its gas production (by 9 percent, 0.9 bcm) in Q2 2020 to 10.4 bcm, whereas in the first half of 2020 it produced 20.8 bcm (vs 19.9 bcm a year before). Gas production in Norway decreased by 12 percent, from 29.2 bcm in Q2 2019 to 25.7 bcm in Q2 2020. Although production costs of Norwegian gas fields are highly competitive in Europe, decrease in gas demand and LNG imports also impacted Norwegian gas production in the second quarter of 2020.
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