Europe & Russia: Consumption

Gas consumption growth will ease over the coming months as a result of weaker seasonal demand and less need for gas-fired power generation.

French gas demand looks set to weaken following a period of significant growth. Cold weather and strong demand for gas-fired power generation pushed up the country’s gas consumption in January by 29% year on year. France’s nuclear output was also still weak, which increased the power sector’s gas offtake and boosted overall demand during the month. Gas-fired power generation rose by 58% year on year in January, significantly higher than the 4% year-on-year increase in overall electricity output during the month. Gas-fired power generation accounted for 10% of France’s electricity output in January, compared with 7% in January 2016.