Europe will most likely not achieve its own goal – to fill its gas storage facilities to 80% by the beginning of winter. This was stated by the CEO of Europe's largest natural gas supplier – Equinor, Reuters reports, quoted by Focus.
The reason is the tension in the global gas market and increased competition from buyers from Asia.
"We do not think that Europe will necessarily be able to fill its reserves by more than 80% this autumn“, said Equinor CEO Anders Oppedal.
The storage situation looks worrying, as the current fill level is only 54%.
This is:
significantly lower than the average indicator for the last five years,
the second lowest level in the last 15 years,
an indicator close to the historical minimum for this time of year, which was recorded in 2021.
According to Opedal said that due to low stocks, Europe will be more vulnerable to market price fluctuations this winter than in previous years.
One of the main reasons for the shortage is the redirection of LNG supplies. This is natural gas that has been cooled to a liquid state for transportation by sea tankers rather than pipelines.
According to Equinor, Europe covers about 30% of its imported gas needs with LNG. But at the moment, a significant part of these supplies simply do not reach the continent.
“The gas that was supposed to be delivered from Qatar was destined for Asia, and this means that LNG that was delivered to Europe earlier this year is now being directed to Asia,“ Opedal explained.
Asian buyers are currently offering a higher price for the gas and suppliers are redirecting tankers to them.