Brussels, 22/09/2006 (Agence Europe) - According to initial Eurostat estimates, the total amount of energy required to satisfy EU demand in 2005 - 1,637 million tonnes of oil equivalent (toe) - remained stable compared to 2004. However, EU production of all sources of energy fell by 4.2%, resulting in an increase of 4.5% in net imports (imports less exports). The first estimate, then, shows that the EU25 depended on imports for 56% of its energy needs, up from 54% in 2004. Seen over the longer term (between 1995 and 2004), EU25 energy consumption rose by 11%, production fell by 2% and net imports rose by 29%. In 1995, the energy dependence rate stood at 44%.
Eurostat's first estimate shows too that, in 2005, the largest reductions in energy consumption were recorded in Lithuania (-6.3%), Finland (-4.9%) ands Cyprus (-4.5%); the greatest increases were in Latvia (+7.5%) and Hungary (+5.9%). Energy consumption per capita in the EU rose to 3.6 toe, compared with 7.8 in the United States and 4.1 in Japan (both 2003 data). Finland, at 5.2 toe per capita, had the highest energy consumption per capita, followed by Belgium (5.0 toe per capita) and the Netherlands (4.9 toe per capita). At the other end of the scale, Latvia, at 1.5 toe per capita had the lowest consumption.
Production of crude oil decreased by 9.0% compared with 2004, natural gas by 5.8%, coal by 5.7% and nuclear energy by 1.3%. Despite a fall of 11.4% in its production, the United Kingdom was the largest producer of crude oil (70% of total EU production), ahead of Denmark (15%). The United Kingdom was also the largest gas producer (44% of gas produced in the EU), despite a 7.7% fall in production, ahead of the Netherlands. Coal production fell in all Member States for which there are figures, with Poland the largest producer (57% of EU production), ahead of Germany (19%) and the United Kingdom (13%). France, with 46%, was the largest nuclear energy producer in the EU, ahead of Germany (16%).
EU energy imports were dominated by oil (60% of net imports to the EU) and gas (25%). Compared with 2004, in 2005, net imports of oil and oil products rose by 2.9%, while gas imports rose by 9.2%. More generally, the countries most heavily dependent on imports were those with few or no national energy resources: Cyprus (100% dependence), Portugal (99.4%), Luxemburg (99.0%), Latvia (94.0%) and Ireland (90.2%). The least dependent countries are the United Kingdom (13%), Poland (18.4%) and Estonia (33.9%). Only Denmark produced more energy than it consumed, and was thus a net exporter.