The office said that even taking into account milder temperatures, consumption still fell 20%.

Gas consumption of households that pay regulated utilities prices dropped by 30% and industrial consumers used 29% less gas. Gas consumption by power plants declined 12%, impacted by maintenance at the Gönyű Power Plant in the northwest of the country, Mekh noted.

Net 7.8 TWh of gas was removed from stores in December, reducing the total stockpiled to 48 TWh.