Europe’s gas markets are at widely varying stages of development; some markets, such as Germany and the UK, have sophisticated market structures reflecting their long histories as gas consumers. Conversely, some markets such as Spain and Portugal, are comparatively new consumers of gas and have immature infrastructures and markets. Significant differences also exist in terms of gas self sufficiency, the role gas plays in each country and in future demand growth rates. Despite these differences, all markets in Europe are united by the fact that gas demand over the short to medium term is certain to increase as economic growth, greater supply availability, environmental concerns and legislation and a concerted movement towards gas fired power generation all combine to drive demand. As this demand grows, and as indigenous supply becomes increasingly depleted, Europe will become more dependent on other sources of supply. North African and Russian gas will increasingly penetrate the European market, whilst gas from further afield, in the form of LNG, will also significantly gain market share.

Table of Contents
The Western European Gas Market Outlook 2006
Regional overview 14
Regulatory climate 14
Market development 16
Chapter 1 Austria 20
Market summary 20
Supply and demand balance 21
Supply overview 22
Demand overview 23
Regulatory structure 25
Wholesale trading 26
Overview 26
Infrastructure 27
Pipelines 27
Storage 28
Chapter 2 Belgium 32
Market summary 32
Supply and demand balance 33
Supply overview 34
Demand overview 35
Regulatory structure 36
Wholesale trading 37
Infrastructure 38
Pipelines 38
LNG 40
Capacity deals signed 41
iv
Storage 41
Chapter 3 Cyprus 44
Chapter 4 Denmark 46
Market summary 46
Supply and demand balance 47
Supply overview 48
Demand overview 49
Regulatory structure 51
Wholesale trading 52
Infrastructure 53
Pipelines 53
Storage 53
Chapter 5 Finland 56
Market summary 56
Supply and demand balance 57
Supply overview 58
Demand overview 58
Regulatory structure 59
Infrastructure 60
Pipelines 60
Chapter 6 France 64
Market summary 64
Supply and demand balance 65
Supply overview 66
Demand overview 67
Regulatory structure 69
Key factors limiting the development of competition in France 70
v
Wholesale trading 71
Infrastructure 72
LNG 72
Pipeline infrastructure 73
Chapter 7 Germany 78
Market summary 78
Supply and demand balance 79
Supply overview 80
Demand overview 81
Regulatory structure 82
Wholesale trading 84
Infrastructure 85
Chapter 8 Greece 90
Market summary 90
Supply and demand balance 91
Supply overview 92
Demand overview 93
Regulatory structure 94
Infrastructure 95
LNG 96
Chapter 9 Ireland 98
Market summary 98
Supply and demand balance 99
Supply overview 100
Demand overview 102
Regulatory structure 104
Infrastructure 105
vi
Chapter 10 Italy 108
Market summary 108
Supply overview 110
Demand overview 111
Regulatory structure 112
Wholesale trading 114
Infrastructure 115
Pipelines 115
LNG infrastructure 116
Storage sites 118
Chapter 11 Luxembourg 120
Market summary 120
Supply and demand balance 121
Supply overview 122
Demand overview 122
Regulatory structure 123
Infrastructure 124
Pipelines 124
Chapter 12 Malta 126
Market summary 126
Chapter 13 The Netherlands 128
Market summary 128
Supply and demand balance 129
Supply overview 130
Demand overview 131
Regulatory structure 133
Wholesale trading 134
Infrastructure 135
Pipelines 135
vii
Storage 136
LNG 136
Chapter 14 Norway 138
Market summary 138
Supply and demand balance 139
Supply overview 140
Demand overview 141
Regulatory structure 142
Infrastructure 143
Chapter 15 Portugal 148
Market summary 148
Supply and demand balance 149
Supply overview 150
Demand overview 151
Regulatory structure 152
Infrastructure 154
LNG 154
Storage 154
Chapter 16 Spain 156
Market summary 156
Supply and demand balance 157
Supply overview 158
Demand overview 159
Regulatory structure 161
Wholesale trading 162
Infrastructure 163
LNG 163
Pipelines 164
Pipeline developments 165
Storage 166
viii
Chapter 17 Sweden 168
Market summary 168
Supply and demand balance 169
Supply overview 170
Demand overview 170
Regulatory structure 172
Infrastructure 173
Pipelines 173
Chapter 18 Switzerland 176
Market summary 176
Supply and demand balance 177
Supply overview 178
Demand overview 178
Regulatory structure 180
Infrastructure 181
Chapter 19 United Kingdom 184
Market summary 184
Supply and demand balance 185
Supply overview 186
Demand overview 188
Wholesale trading 191
Infrastructure 192
Transmission and distribution 192
Offshore infrastructure 193
LNG 195
Storage 196
Appendix 199
Data sources 199
Data Adjustments 199
ix
Definitions 200
List of Figures
Figure 0.1: Gas Penetration Vs. Absolute Demand 17
Figure 1.2: Austria, Gas Production 22
Figure 1.3: Austria, Imports By Source 23
Figure 1.4: Austria, Energy Demand 24
Figure 1.5: Austria, Sectoral Consumption, 1960-2004 24
Figure 1.6: Austria, Gas Grid 29
Figure 2.7: Belgium, Supply Sources 34
Figure 2.8: Belgium, Sectoral Demand 35
Figure 2.9: Belgium, Historical Sectoral Demand 36
Figure 4.10: Denmark, Supply Sources 48
Figure 4.11: Denmark, Gas Production 49
Figure 4.12: Denmark, Sectoral Demand 50
Figure 4.13: Denmark Historical Sectoral Demand 50
Figure 5.14: Finland, Sectoral Demand 58
Figure 5.15: Finland, Historical Sectoral Demand 59
Figure 5.16: Finland, Gas Grid 61
Figure 6.17: France, Gas Production 66
Figure 6.18: France, Import Sources 67
Figure 6.19: France, Sectoral Demand 68
Figure 6.20: France, Historical Sectoral Demand 68
Figure 6.21: France, Transmission Grid 76
Figure 7.22: Germany, Gas Production 80
Figure 7.23: Germany, Imports By Source 81
Figure 7.24: Germany, Sectoral Demand 81
Figure 7.25: Germany, Historical Sectoral Consumption 82
Figure 8.26: Greece, Indigenous Production 92
Figure 8.27: Greece, Sectoral Demand 93
Figure 8.28: Greece, Historical Sectoral Demand 94
Figure 9.29: Ireland, Gas Production 101
Figure 9.30: Ireland, Imports By Source 102
Figure 9.31: Ireland, Energy Demand 103
Figure 9.32: Ireland, Historical Sectoral Demand 103
Figure 10.33: Italy, Gas Production 110
Figure 10.34: Italy, Imports By Source 111
Figure 10.35: Italy, Sectoral Demand 111
Figure 10.36: Italy, Historical Sectoral Demand 112
Figure 10.37: Italy, Gas Infrastructure 118
Figure 11.38: Luxembourg, Sectoral Demand 122
Figure 11.39: Luxembourg, Historical Sectoral Demand 123
Figure 11.40: Luxembourg, Gas Grid 124
Figure 13.41: The Netherlands, Gas Production 131
Figure 13.42: The Netherlands, Imports By Source 131
Figure 13.43: The Netherlands, Sectoral Demand 132
Figure 13.44: The Netherlands, Historical Sectoral Demand 132
Figure 14.45: Norway, Gas Production 140
x
Figure 14.46: Norway, Export destinations 141
Figure 14.47: Norway, Sectoral Demand 141
Figure 14.48: Norway, Historical Sectoral Demand 142
Figure 14.49: Norway, Gas Export Infrastructure 145
Figure 15.50: Portugal, Imports By Source 150
Figure 15.51: Portugal, Sectoral Demand 151
Figure 15.52: Portugal, Historical Sectoral Demand 152
Figure 16.53: Spain, Gas Production 158
Figure 16.54: Spain, Imports By Source 159
Figure 16.55: Spain, Sectoral Demand 160
Figure 16.56: Spain, Historical Sectoral Demand 160
Figure 16.57: Spain, Gas Grid 165
Figure 17.58: Sweden, Sectoral Demand 171
Figure 17.59: Sweden, Historical Sectoral Demand 171
Figure 17.60: Sweden, Gas Grid 174
Figure 18.61: Switzerland, Imports by Source 178
Figure 18.62: Switzerland, Sectoral Demand 179
Figure 18.63: Switzerland, Historical Sectoral Demand 179
Figure 18.64: Switzerland, Gas Grid 182
Figure 19.65: UK, Gas Production 187
Figure 19.66: UK, Imports By Source 187
Figure 19.67: UK, Sectoral Demand 188
Figure 19.68: UK, Historical Sectoral Demand 189
List of Tables
Table 1.1: Austria, Supply and Demand Balance 21
Table 1.2: Austria, Storage sites 28
Table 2.3: Belgium, Supply and Demand Balance 33
Table 2.4: Belgium, Interconnector Ownership 39
Table 2.5: Belgium, Storage Sites 41
Table 4.6: Denmark, Supply and Demand Balance 47
Table 4.7: Denmark, Storage Sites 53
Table 5.8: Finland, Supply and Demand Balance 57
Table 6.9: France, Supply and Demand Balance 65
Table 6.10: France, LNG Infrastructure 73
Table 6.11: France, LNG Infrastructure 75
Table 7.12: Germany, Supply and Demand Balance 79
Table 7.13: Germany, Storage Sites 87
Table 8.14: Greece, Supply and Demand Balance 91
Table 9.15: Ireland, Supply and Demand Balance 99
Table 9.16: Ireland, Transmission Grid 106
Table 10.17: Italy, Supply and Demand Balance 109
Table 10.18: Italy, LNG Infrastructure 117
Table 10.19: Italy, Storage Sites 118
Table 11.20: Luxembourg, Supply and Demand Balance 121
Table 13.21: The Netherlands, Supply and Demand Balance 129
Table 13.22: The Netherlands, Storage Sites 136
xi
Table 14.23: Norway, Supply and Demand Balance 139
Table 14.24: Gassled Shareholders 144
Table 15.25: Portugal, Supply and Demand Balance 149
Table 16.26: Spain, Supply and Demand Balance 157
Table 16.27: Spain, LNG Infrastructure 164
Table 16.28: Spain, Storage Sites 166
Table 17.29: Sweden, Supply and Demand Balance 169
Table 18.30: Switzerland, Supply and Demand Balance 177
Table 19.31: UK, Supply and Demand Balance 185
Table 19.32: UK, LNG Infrastructure 196
Table 19.33: UK, Storage Sites 198
xii