No change in natural gas consumption in 2024

Eon power station in the Maasvlakte area, west of Rotterdam
© Hollandse Hoogte / Flip Franssen
A total of 30 billion cubic metres of natural gas were consumed in the Netherlands in 2024 - around the same as in the previous year. Industry consumed more natural gas, while consumption for electricity generation was down. Imports of LNG (liquified natural gas) were lower than in 2023. Domestic gas production also fell further. Statistics Netherlands (CBS) reports this based on newly released figures.

Industry consumed 877 million cubic metres (+9 percent) more natural gas in 2024 than in the previous year. This increase was mainly due to refineries and the chemical industry. Natural gas consumption for power generation, on the other hand, decreased by nearly 600 million cubic metres (-8 percent) compared to 2023. This was mainly due to the increasing use of renewable forms of power generation, such as wind and solar. In the last two months of the year, however, more gas was consumed than in the same period in 2023. That is because there were so many days with hardly any wind and very little sun in northwestern Europe, and also because a nuclear power plant in Belgium was undergoing maintenance work.

Imports of liquefied natural gas fall

In 2024, imports of LNG fell by 8.2 billion cubic metres relative to the previous year. Exports also declined by 6.1 billion cubic metres. Net imports therefore fell by 11 percent. Imports of LNG <link> by tanker fell by 15 percent. This is the first time that LNG imports have dropped since the energy crisis began in 2022. The amount of LNG imported from the United States fell by 3.1 billion cubic metres (-18 percent). Nonetheless, the US remains the Netherlands’ leading supplier of liquefied natural gas by far: 68 percent (14.4 billion cubic metres) of imported LNG came from the US. The Netherlands imported more LNG from Russia (+68 percent) and less from Norway (-2 percent) in 2024, but the quantities involved were comparatively small. Currently, LNG from Russia falls outside the European Union's sanctions regime.

Natural gas extraction continues to fall and gas reserves lower

Domestic natural gas extraction in the Netherlands decreased once again in 2024, down by 1.9 billion cubic metres. This 17 percent fall is reflects the definitve closure of the Groningen gas field at Slochteren in April 2024.

Because less natural gas was extracted and imported while consumption remained the same, the Netherlands' gas reserves were lower at the end of 2024 than one year earlier (-3.7 billion cubic metres, -31 percent).

Sources

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