Underground gas reserves in Europe have fallen below 65%, and production has approached 900 million cubic meters per day for the first time since the start of the heating season, according to data from Gas Infrastructure Europe (GIE). However, gas volumes in underground gas storage are the fourth highest in history, and gas on the European stock exchange is traded at a price of around $ 500 per 1,000 cubic meters. Since the start of the heating season, the EU has withdrawn about 36 billion cubic meters from underground storage.
The withdrawal of gas from UGS facilities in EU countries on January 14 amounted to 879 million cubic meters. Despite the high consumption of gas reserves (the third maximum for January), the situation in Europe is still far from catastrophic, experts comment. The total volume of fuel in the underground gas storage is the fourth maximum for the beginning of January for the entire observation period - 72.1 billion cubic meters.
The most problematic years for the EU were 2018 and 2022, when reserves in storage facilities by the end of the heating season in the spring fell to critical levels below 18% and 26%, respectively (it was even necessary to resort to the selection of the so-called buffer gas, which is used to maintain the necessary pressure in the storage facilities).
Currently, European UGSs are filled to 64.98% (6.37 percentage points lower than the average for this date for the last five years), which significantly exceeds the similar indicators for the “problematic“ years - 58.5% in 2018 and 48% in 2022. At the same time, in January 2024, reserves exceed 79.5%.
The heating season in Europe began on October 29, 2024 (10 days earlier than the last autumn-winter season) and since then, EU countries have withdrawn about 36 billion cubic meters of gas from storage. At the same time, the total withdrawal of gas from underground gas storage facilities on the 79th day from the moment of reaching their maximum filling is 29% higher than the average value for this day for the previous five years. The last gas withdrawal season from European underground storage facilities ended on March 31, 2024, when 58.44% of the reserves remained in them (a record for the observation period).
The current week in Europe is slightly cooler than the previous one, but warmer than initial forecasts. The share of wind energy in electricity production in the EU in January was 24%. The average purchase price of gas in December in Europe was $ 489 per 1000 cubic meters, and in January - so far around $ 504.
Inflows of liquefied natural gas from terminals in the European gas transportation system increased in January compared to the end of December. Currently, the capacity for regasification of liquefied gas and its further injection into European pipelines is loaded at 48% of the maximum.