The European Commission has initiated the third EU tender for joint gas purchasing, welcoming bids from international, reliable gas suppliers. This tender, under the EU Energy Platform, was open until 4 October 2023 and covered gas deliveries from December 2023 to March 2025. The aggregated gas demand for this round amounted to 16.49 bcm, reflecting a consistent increase in demand over the three rounds so far, with 39 European companies submitting requests.
The EU has to import an increasing share of its consumption: net imports made up 93% of its consumption in 2022 compared to 65% in 2010. About 16% of the EU’s gas imports in 2022 came from Norway, followed by Russia (10%) and Germany (9%). In 2021, the share of gas provided by Russia was 40%. Gas consumption declined by 13% in 2022 to 363 bcm. Buildings (residential and services sector) accounted for 37% of total gas consumption; the remaining amount is consumed in electricity production (31%) and in industry (25%) (2022).