Natural gas consumption in Brazil from January through August this year has been 12.5% higher than the same period of 2013, figures released Thursday by the Brazilian Association of Piped Gas Distributors, or Abegas, showed.
Nationwide consumption in August reached an average of 81.67 million cubic meters, up 4.2% from July's consumption of 78.39 cu m/d.
August's demand for gas rose 24% compared to August 2013, when daily average demand was 65.85 cu m/d.
Demand is up mainly on consumption by gas-fired thermoelectric plants, which are producing more energy to make up for a shortfall in hydroelectric power production, Abegas said in a short statement.
Brazil's industrialized Southeast region remained the largest consumer market for natural gas, using an average daily volume of 52.1 million cu m/d in August.
The Northeast followed, with 16.1 million cu m/d. The South, North and Central-West regions consumed 6.8 million cu m/d, 3.6 million cu m/d and 2.9 million cu m/d, respectively.
