The European Union’s (EU) independent energy regulator reported the bloc’s natural gas consumption has continued to drop even as trade liquidity and imports from the United States are still on the rise.

The EU’s gas consumption has dropped 20.3% year-to-date, according to the latest market report from the European Union Agency for the Cooperation of Energy Regulators (ACER).

ACER analysts wrote that the voluntary gas cuts industrial users made last year at the start of Europe’s energy crisis have continued despite improving supply stability. Consumption from Europe’s power sector has also declined, adding to the drop in demand.

“Gas-fired power generation started to drop in November 2022 in view of improving renewable and nuclear production and lower electricity...