The European Union’s gas production fell by 23% in the first quarter of this year (Q1), while Romania remained second in the list of countries that extract natural gas, according to a report by the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Energy.

Thus, total EU production in the first three months of the year reached 16 billion cubic meters.

The Netherlands is the main producer, with 7.2 billion cubic meters, down from 10.6 billion cubic meters in the first quarter of 2019. In second place, Romania had a production of 2.5 billion cubic meters, marking a decrease of 5%, from 2.6 billion cubic meters.

Romania is followed by Germany, with 1.3 billion cubic meters, down from 1.5 billion cubic meters and Italy, with 1.1 billion cubic meters, compared to 1.3 billion cubic meters in the same period last year, according to Agerpres.

The European Commission’s report also shows that net gas imports fell by 6% in the first quarter of the year, compared to the same period last year, mainly due to the decline in consumption by 5%, in the same period.

In terms of consumption, the largest increase can be seen in the case of Malta (20%, even if very little in absolute terms, ie 0.02 billion cubic meters). Consumption also increased in Portugal (by 17% and 0.2 billion cubic meters, respectively) and also in Hungary and Croatia (by 4% for both countries).

In Romania, Latvia, Finland and Slovakia, gas consumption fell by more than 20%, while in Estonia, it was lower by 14%. In the UK, consumption was 4.5% lower (by 1.2 billion cubic meters).