Europe's LNG imports are set to increase by 25% this year.
This will be due to the continent needing to offset lower pipeline gas supplies amid a weather-driven rise in demand, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said in a report last Friday.
Over the whole of 2025, European LNG imports are expected to increase by 25%, or about 33 bill cu m, the IEA said in its quarterly gas market update, adding this would bring the imports up to near all-time highs.
This increase will be driven by lower pipeline supply from Russia, higher domestic demand and storage injection needs, and greater exports toward Ukraine, the IEA added.
Over the first three months of the year, European LNG imports grew by 23%, or more than 9 bill cu m.
This contrasted sharply with the nearly 30 bill cu m year-on-year drop in European LNG imports in 2024, illustrating the rapidly changing state of the global gas market, the report said.
EU gas storage ended the winter with only 35 bill cu m of gas in storage, equivalent to a 34% fill level, which it will need to refill to 90% ahead of next winter.
Compared to last year, this meant the EU market faced an incremental injection requirement of close to 20 bill cu m, or 50% more than last year, by 1st November, the IEA forecast.
European gas needs are set to increase by 1.5%, compared to 2024, due rising demand in the residential and commercial sectors.
However, gas-to-power demand is expected to drop by 10% year-on-year, due to the continued renewables’ expansion.
Industrial gas use should decline through the remainder of this year, as higher gas prices are expected to weigh on gas- and energy-intensive industries, the IEA reported.
