FRANKFURT: Germany’s imports of natural gas jumped 22 percent in the first ten months of 2015, though lower crude oil prices, to which the contracts are linked, meant costs rose by a more modest 8 percent, official data showed.
The January-October gas import bill was 20.2 billion euros ($22.1 billion), with the volume at 3,502,116 terajoules (TJ)*, data from trade statistics office BAFA showed. Russia was the top supplier, accounting for 34.4 percent of deliveries, though down from 39.2 percent in the same nine-month period a year earlier.
Norway was a close second, with a 34.2 percent share, followed by the Netherlands with 28.7 percent. Smaller volumes came from Britain and Denmark. Many continental European gas prices under long-term supply contracts still track crude oil prices with a time lag of about six months.