Demand for Gas in Europe Expected to Decline This Year, Driven by Cheaper Coal: International Energy Agency

A view of pipelines at the Bilche-Volytsko-Uherske underground gas storage facility, the largest in Europe, not far from the village of Bilche village, in the Lviv region of western Ukraine, on May 21, 2014. Alexander Zobin/AFP via Getty Images

Demand for gas across Europe is expected to decline this year, as soaring prices make coal a more competitive option, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said on Monday.

Last year, European gas consumption increased by an estimated 5.5 percent to 552 billion cubic meters (bcm), despite prices soaring worldwide amid a global supply chain crisis.