Gas injection into European underground gas storage (UGS) in June was the highest in the last 3 years amid efforts by Europe to fill its UGS by 90% by winter, and reserves by the end of the month rose to almost 59%, according to calculations based on data from Gas Infrastructure Europe (GIE).
Gas injection into European gas storages in June amounted to 12.4 billion cubic meters - a three-year high. At the same time, the extraction from underground gas storage facilities amounted to 867 million cubic meters, which is 22% higher than last year's data.
Gas reserves in European gas storage facilities as of June 30 amounted to 58.9%, which is 9.3 percentage points lower than the average for the last five years. At the end of the previous month, they contained 64.6 billion cubic meters of gas.
Net gas injection (the difference between injection volumes and extraction) into underground storage facilities in Europe since the start of the summer season has exceeded 27 billion cubic meters of the 61 billion cubic meters needed to fill them by 90% by next winter. However, the level of reserves in underground gas storage facilities in June was still 20 billion cubic meters (24%) lower than the value a year earlier.
Earlier, „Gazprom“ predicted that Europe will have difficulties filling its storage facilities for the winter. Countries in the region will need more gas to replenish their reserves this summer, and with limited new capacity coming on stream, they will have to compete for liquefied natural gas (LNG) with Asia, whose demand for the fuel is growing. The Gas Exporting Countries Forum expects the EU to face significant difficulties in filling its underground gas storage facilities by 90% by winter and predicts that summer gas exchange prices will be higher than they were in winter, undermining the economic feasibility of pumping gas into storage.
At the end of June, the average gas price in Europe was around USD 439 per 1,000 cubic meters (up 6.7% compared to May) and was 15% higher than in June 2024. Overall, in the first half of the year, quotes increased by 40% compared to the same period last year and by 5% compared to the second half of 2024 - to USD 464.
In June, Europe set a record for imports of liquefied natural gas for this month for the entire monitoring period. According to the results of the past month, liquefied natural gas (LNG) flows from European terminals to the EU gas transmission system amounted to about 12.16 billion cubic meters, which is 5% less than in May and 49% more than in June 2024.
In total, according to the results of the first half of the year, liquefied natural gas (LNG) flows from terminals to the European gas transmission system amounted to about 71.7 billion cubic meters - 21% more than for the same period in 2024.