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Energy Use Surges In Europe

Tank gauging systems were in high demand this winter as energy demands surged across Europe.

The late cold snap across the whole of Europe that saw freezing temperatures and snow fall across the UK at the beginning of March has been behind a significant surge in energy demand.

Energy providers saw demand for oil and gas increase significantly in March with more demand predicted as the cold snap is set to continue into March.

Bloomberg reported that natural gas demand had its biggest ever jump in the UK, with similar rises seen in France and Germany. Though the upcoming cold weather is not expected to be as extreme as the Beast From The East which drew cold Siberian air west, there are fewer resources in reserves for the latest weather front.

This could cause prices increase, particularly for gas, from next month, it has been predicted.

“We are facing this cold spell with storage reserves in much worse shape than the previous cold snap of late February,” said John Twomey, an analyst at Bloomberg New Energy Finance.

“We were already expecting storage to end the winter at a multiyear low --now this late March cold snap has the potential to run storage down to dangerously low levels.”

High levels of demand are also coinciding with low renewable energy generation across Europe. In Germany for example, wind energy was much lower at the beginning of march during the cold snap than it had been in March a year ago.