%{{tag.tag}} {{articledata.title}} {{moment(articledata.cdate)}} @{{articledata.company.replace(" ","")}} comment The International Energy Agency (IEA) is forecasting that Europe's natural gas demand will decline as much as 10% between now and 2030. The forecasted reduction is due to lower natural gas prices and an expected wave of new liquefied natural gas (LNG) in coming years. "The decline in European gas demand is forecast to be primarily driven by Northwest European markets," says the IEA in its latest report. "In contrast, gas use in Eastern European markets is expected to marginally increase amid the phaseout of coal..." The vast majority of the expected demand drop is forecast to come from the power sector, with Europe forecast to have 10% less gas demand for industrial use by 2030. Additionally, residential and commercial gas demand is projected to see annual declines of 1% per year through 2030, says the IEA. "In the European Union, the renovation wave is set to improve the energy efficiency standards of the building stock, while the electrification of heat through the deployment of heat pumps is expected to further moderate natural gas use," reads the IEA report. Europe saw declines in piped natural gas during the first nine months of this year. Russian piped gas to the continent fell by 45% year-over-year between the first and third quarters. Norwegian piped gas into other European countries saw a smaller decline of 2.8% during the same period of time. Leading natural gas companies include Chevron (NYSE: $CVX ), Kinder Morgan (NYSE: $KMI ), and Cheniere Energy (NYSE: $LNG ).