At the end of October, European countries continue to pump small volumes of gas into underground gas storage (UGS) ahead of the upcoming cold weather, amid the highest prices in four years. This is according to TASS calculations based on data from Gas Infrastructure Europe (GIE).
Meanwhile, a number of countries have been net withdrawing gas from European UGS for the second week (withdrawal exceeds injection), marking the gradual start of the heating season in the region.
To date, Europe has managed to pump only 75.5% of the required volumes into UGS for the upcoming winter, or 51 billion cubic meters.
As of October 26, European underground gas storage facilities were filled to 74.93% (14.65 percentage points lower than the average for this date over the past five years), compared to 82.9% the previous year. This remains the lowest level for this date since 2011. EU storage facilities hold an estimated 82.1 billion cubic meters of gas, 9.4 billion cubic meters less than last year's stockpiles and the lowest level since 2013. Gazprom has forecast that gas reserves in European underground gas storage facilities may not even reach 75%, and the region faces a difficult autumn-winter season.
Europe risks starting the heating season with record low gas reserves. EU countries can only fill their storage facilities to 70-75% by the traditional start of the autumn-winter period, which would be the absolute minimum for the start of a heating season in history.
According to the European Commission's requirements, EU countries must ensure that their storage facilities are 90% full between October 1 and December 1 each year. A 10% flexibility is allowed in case of difficult filling conditions. Therefore, net injection into European storage by the start of the autumn-winter period 2026-2027 must reach at least 68 billion cubic meters to meet the occupancy standard. However, with the hope of a very mild winter, the European Commission is ready to reduce this figure to 80% this year.