Germany's gas spending did not fall despite buying less than half as much

Compared to 2021, Germany's gas imports have now halved, but the amount of money the country has to spend remains unchanged.

This is the analysis result published by RIA Novosti (Russia) based on official statistics. In the first 9 months of this year, Germany reduced the total amount of imported gas by 2.5 times compared to the same period in 2021. However, the country's fuel costs remained the same because prices increased 2.5 times.

Specifically, in the first three quarters of this year, Berlin paid 21.3 billion euros ($23 billion) to buy gas from abroad, compared to 22.2 billion euros in the same period in 2021, despite a decrease in import volume. strong. This is because the annual average price for a cubic meter of gas has more than doubled, from 0.18 euros in 2021 to 0.45 euros this year.

An air compressor station in Mallnow, Germany, June 13, 2022. Photo: Reuters

Before the Ukraine conflict, Russian gas accounted for 40% of Germany's imports. Therefore, this is one of the European countries most affected by reduced dependence on supplies from Russia.

In a report released at the end of October, S&P Global forecast that gas prices in Germany will still be high in the near future, despite Europe's largest economy continuously developing liquefied gas (LNG) infrastructure. ), to ensure energy security.

It is expected that Germany's LNG storage capacity will double by the end of 2023 with the deployment of a number of new floating storage and regasification units (FRSU). Germany has a combined LNG import capacity of about 18 billion m3 of gas per year from three FSRUs operating in Wilhelmshaven I, Brunsbuttel and Lubmin.

In the last two months of this year, two new FRSUs, Transgas Force (capacity 7.5 billion m3 per year) and Excelsior (5 billion m3 per year), will be installed. In the first quarter of 2024, another FRSU, Transgas Power (7.5 billion m3 per year), will be installed and operational.