Germany’s domestic gas production fell 2.3% to 4.2 billion cubic metres in 2024 while oil output was stable at 1.6 million metric tons, industry association BVEG said on Thursday.
The BVEG companies achieved a turnover of 2.4 billion euros ($2.7 billion) from their German production activities, down from 3 billion euros a year earlier, BVEG said.
Oil output in Germany peaked in the 1960s and gas in the 1990s. Since then, reserves and exploration have declined.
Since import disruptions linked to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Germany has replaced huge volumes of Russian gas through supply deals with Norway and has also agreed deals with liquefied natural gas traders in the world market.
BVEG’s managing director Ludwig Moehring said if Germany wanted to raise domestic gas output again, it would have to consider tapping so-called unconventional reserves, known internationally as shale gas, extracted via the fracking method.
“The potential to produce up to 20% of natural gas requirements ourselves again should give us food for thought,” he said.
The industry was also ready to invest in carbon management, hydrogen, geothermal and lithium resource, but needed political support for these activities, he said.
Germany last year sourced about 5.4% of its gas demand and 1.8% of its oil demand from domestic sources.
Germany has 22.6 billion cubic metres of underground gas storage capacity, which in 2024 equated to 26% of its total annual consumption and makes it one of the big global players for storage along with the United States, Russia and Ukraine.
BVEG groups 81 companies including Neptune Energy, Vermilion Energy, and BEB, a joint venture of ExxonMobil and Shell, with other activities outside the country.
Key figures from BVEG’s annual report:
| 2024 | 2023 | |
|---|---|---|
| Indigenous gas production | 4.2 bcm | 4.3 bcm |
| Indigenous oil production | 1.6 mln T | 1.6 mln T |
| Exploration taxes paid | 152 mln € | 190 mln € |
| Estimated domestic gas reserves* | 32.1 bcm | 34.3 bcm |
| Estimated domestic oil reserves* | 21.1 mln T | 22.8 mln T |
| Employees | 6,523 | 6,352 |
* secure and probable reserves numbers combined
(Reporting by Vera Eckert; Editing by Toby Chopra)