Natural gas use fell by 5 percent in the Netherlands last year

The Netherlands used 30 billion cubic meters of natural gas in 2023. That is 5 percent less than in 2022, when gas consumption was a quarter lower than the year before, Statistics Netherlands (CBS) reported on Tuesday.

Dutch Households consumed 11 percent less natural gas in 2023, even though the winter was about as cold as in 2022. CBS attributes the decline to the then-still-high gas prices. Netherlands residents more often opted for burning wood in their fireplaces or woodstoves to keep their homes warm last year.

Natural gas consumption was lower in most of the main sectors of the economy. Only agriculture saw an increase of 9 percent. The electricity sector used 6 percent less gas, and gas consumption in buildings like shops, restaurants, and hospitals was 7 percent lower.

Gas consumption in the industry fell by 4 percent, but there were large differences within the sector. For example, the paper and base metal industries reduced their gas consumption by 28 and 15 percent, respectively. The chemical industry, the subsector with the highest natural gas consumption, used about the same amount of gas as in 2023. “However, after a downward trend in the first half of 2023, consumption within the chemical industry in the second half of 2023 was about 15 percent higher than in the second half of 2022,” CBS said.

Imports of liquified natural gas (LNG) via tanker ships increased by 33 percent to 25 billion cubic meters, while imports of gaseous natural gas via pipelines dropped 23 percent to 31 billion cubic meters. LNG made up almost 45 percent of total imports, up from 32 percent in 2022.

The Netherlands started making the switch to LNG to lower its dependence on Russian gas, mainly delivered in gaseous forms via pipelines, after Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022. Last year, less than 9 percent of imported gas came from Russia, compared to 24 percent in 2021.

Last year, the Netherlands extracted 34 percent less natural gas - 47 percent less on land and 19 percent less at sea. A large part of the decrease can be attributed to the Groningen gas field closing on 1 October 2023.

“With decreasing extraction and increasing imports, storages are increasingly filled with foreign gas,” CBS said. At the end of last year, the Dutch gas storage facilities were 81 percent full.