The turnover of N.V. Nederlandse Gasunie rose in 2004 by just under 6%. The company achieved a turnover of 11.9 billion euros during the 2004 financial year, which is more than half a billion euros more than the 11.3 billion of 2003. This rise can be attributed to higher sales: 86 billion cubic metres in 2004 as compared to 77 billion in the previous year. That represents an increase of almost 12%, which is largely accounted for by the rise in export volumes. However, for the first time since the liberalisation of the natural gas market began in 2001, we are once again seeing a slight rise in domestic sales.
In 2004 the average gas price per cubic metre was 13.9 eurocents, which is 5.3% lower than the average of 14.6 eurocents paid for a cubic metre of natural gas in 2003. In addition to the weakness of the American dollar against the euro, this is explained by the delayed link to the world oil prices. The effect of the high oil prices in the second half of 2004 will not be felt in the gas price until 2005.
The overall import volume rose slightly: from 9 billion cubic metres in 2003 to 9.2 billion in 2004.
For N.V. Nederlandse Gasunie the year 2005 will be marked by the legal division of the transport and trade businesses. This division is scheduled for 1 July of this year. The Dutch State will become the sole owner of the transport business, and the public-private partnership between the State, Shell and ExxonMobil will be maintained within the trade business.
