Status: 04/18/2023 1:14 p.m
Despite higher prices, domestic sources are producing less and less oil and gas. The German industry association is therefore calling for fracking again.
Despite the increased demand for energy, the German natural gas and oil industry produced smaller quantities from domestic sources last year. In 2022, a good 4.8 billion cubic meters of natural gas were extracted in Germany, after around 5.2 billion in the previous year, according to the Federal Association for Natural Gas, Oil and Geoenergy (BVEG) in Hanover. Domestic oil production fell from around 1.8 million to 1.7 million tons. According to the industry, these volumes cover approximately 5.5 percent (gas) and 2 percent (oil) of domestic demand.
The trend towards shrinking self-funding is thus continuing. In previous years, German gas fields sometimes produced 20 billion cubic meters of gas and more per year. Association leader Ludwig Möhring pointed out – as he did shortly after the beginning of the Ukraine war last spring – that the German gas producers wanted to continue to contribute their part to the supply. The prices for fossil raw materials, which are still very high, will only fall if the supply expands.
Fracking Reassessment?
In the overall CO2 balance, domestic gas also performs better than imported liquefied natural gas (LNG), which is delivered by tanker from the USA, for example. Möhring therefore again suggested a reassessment of the fracking method for extracting shale gas, which is banned in Germany. In the meantime, the technical possibilities have improved significantly. “The energy crisis makes it necessary to reopen to the potential here on site. This also includes a sufficiently informed and well-considered decision regarding the option of shale gas from Germany.” Large quantities of American LNG are also produced by fracking.
In view of the declining production, the industry association also wants to focus more on more promising business in the future. These include above all geothermal energy, the production of hydrogen from natural gas or the underground storage of CO2.