據油價網4月2日消息稱，嚴冬對能源消費者來說總是壞消息。但是，對于那些生產消費者使用的能源的人來說，它們是個好消息。今年冬天也不例外:歐洲各地的惡劣天氣清空了歐洲大陸的天然氣儲備，現在世界各地的出口商正準備應對日益增長的需求。據彭博社報道，歐洲的天然氣庫存比去年同期減少了250億立方米。根據這份報告，這一數額相當于德國年消費量的三分之一左右。因為德國是歐洲最大的天然氣消費國，這個數字相當可觀。

幸運的是，周圍有很多供應。從卡塔爾、俄羅斯到澳大利亞和美國，液化天然氣生產商正準備增加對歐洲的出貨量。盡管面臨來自美國的制裁壓力，俄羅斯天然氣工業股份公司仍在準備完成北溪2號管道項目。

據路透社近日報道，繼俄羅斯天然氣工業股份公司之后，對歐洲的另一個主要天然氣出口商Equinor表示，歐洲天然氣需求在去年下降4%后，今年將增長2%。 該公司指出，2019/2020年暖冬和大流行是需求下降的原因。但今年的冬天已經遠遠彌補了去年的冬天。

彭博社援引一位俄羅斯能源分析師的話說，歐洲今年夏天需要儲備約650億至700億立方米的天然氣。

曹海斌 摘譯自 油價網

原文如下：

Europe Looks To Stock Up On Natural Gas This Summer

Harsh winters are always bad news for energy consumers. But they are good news for those that produce the energy that consumers use. This winter has been no exception: harsh weather across Europe has emptied the continent’s gas storage, and now exporters from around the world are preparing to respond to the rising demand. Bloomberg reports that Europe’s natural gas inventories are about 25 billion cubic meters below the levels from this time last year. This amount, according to the report, is equal to about a third of Germany’s annual consumption. Because Germany is the biggest consumer of natural gas in Europe, it’s quite an impressive amount.

Luckily, there is a lot of supply around. From Qatar and Russia to Australia and the United States, LNG producers are preparing to increase shipments to Europe. And Gazprom is preparing to finish the Nord Stream 2 pipeline despite sanction pressure from the United States.

Norway’s Equinor, the other major gas exporter to Europe after Gazprom, said it expected European natural gas demand to rise by 2 percent this year after dipping by 4 percent last year, Reuters reported recently. The company cited the mild winter of 2019/2020 and the pandemic as reasons for the decline. But this winter has more than made up for last year’s.

Europe will need to stock up some 65-70 billion cubic meters of natural gas this summer, Bloomberg reports, quoting a Russian energy analyst.