MOSCOW, March 9. /TASS/. Europe needs to pump record volumes of gas into underground gas storage facilities (UGSF) by winter to replace reserves, which will seriously influence the price in the European Union, Gazprom said in a statement on Wednesday.
"To replace gas reserves in European storages by next winter such substantial gas volumes should be pumped by next winter that have never been pumped before. This will have a substantial influence on the gas price on the market," the statement said.
According to Gazprom, Europe withdrew 49.5 bln cubic meters of gas from underground storages as of March 7. The total remaining volume of gas in European underground storage facilities stands at 27%, with German storages empty by 74.4%, French - by 80.3%.