BAKU, Azerbaijan, July 31. The EU's domestic gas production reached 8.3 billion cubic meters (bcm) in the first quarter of 2024, marking a slight increase of 1.4 percent compared to the previous quarter (8.2 bcm), Trend reports via the European Commission.
However, this represents a significant 26 percent decline year-on-year, down from 11.2 bcm in the same period of 2023. The average monthly production in the first quarter of 2024 was 2.77 bcm, reflecting a 1.4 percent rise from the previous quarter (2.73 bcm) and a 26 percent drop from the 3.73 bcm average in the first quarter of 2022.
Domestic production in the first quarter of 2024 covered 7 percent of the EU’s gas consumption, a decrease from 10 percent in both the first quarter of 2023 and the same period in 2022. Within the EU, 18 Member States produce gas, while nine Member States (Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Portugal, Sweden, and Cyprus) do not have domestic gas production.
The Netherlands remained the EU’s largest gas producer in the first quarter of 2024, with a total quarterly production of 2.7 bcm. This marks a 4 percent increase since the previous quarter but a 33 percent decrease year-on-year. Romania held its position as the second-largest producer with 2.4 bcm, followed by Germany with 1.0 bcm. Italy and Hungary were the fourth and fifth largest producers, with 0.74 bcm and 0.44 bcm, respectively.
On a year-on-year basis, gas production increased in four Member States: Greece (+414%), Belgium (+9%), Hungary (+8%), and Romania (+1%). Conversely, production decreased in the remaining Member States, with declines ranging from 4 percent in Austria to a substantial 44 percent in Spain.
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