Spain remains in sixth position among the 25 countries of the European Union with regard to the demand for natural gas, preceded by the United Kingdom, Germany, Italy, France and the Netherlands, countries which have a higher penetration of this form of energy.

Natural gas sales in 2007 reached a new record high of 408 TWh. This figure represents an increase of 4.3% and exceeds the figures for the previous year by two tenths of a point. It is one of the largest growths in Europe in a year in which climatic conditions have been generally mild throughout the continent during winter. In the case of Spain, summer temperatures have also been lower than the previous year.

However, the last two months of 2007 were colder than the same month in 2006. This coincided with a greater demand for gas for the generation of electricity and, as a result, the overall demand reached the figure of 120 TWh during the last four-month period, 21.2% up on the fourth quarter of 2006. These figures represent an absolute value that is similar to the total Spanish demand of only 10 years ago.