Paris, Feb 11 (IANS): In 2022, natural gas consumption in France decreased by 9.3 per cent compared with 2021, the country's gas transmission system operator GRTgaz said.

Last year, the country consumed 430 terawatt-hours (TWh) of natural gas, compared with 474 TWh in 2021, mainly due to the warm weather, the high energy prices and consumer awareness.

Gas consumption by both the general public and industry was down from 2021 levels, by 16.6 per cent and 11.5 per cent, respectively, GRTgaz added on Friday.

However, since many nuclear reactors in France were shut down for maintenance, the quantity of gas used to generate electricity rose by 54.4 per cent, Xinhua news agency reported.

To compensate for the lack of Russian gas, the volume of liquefied natural gas (LNG) imported through LNG terminals rose by 102 per cent to 370 TWh, while imports through pipeline dropped to 278 TWh, the company said.

Meanwhile, GRTgaz noted that 158 TWh of gas were transited from France to Switzerland, Italy, Belgium and Germany in 2022, compared with 42 TWh in 2021.