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Gas reserves in EU’s UGS below 66%, requests for transit via Ukraine up 16%

It is noted that requests for transit of Russian gas to Europe through Ukraine for February 15 have increased by 16% to 35.8 mln cubic meters via the Sudzha gas distribution station

MOSCOW, February 15. /TASS/. Gas reserves in European underground gas storage (UGS) facilities have fallen below 66%, while withdrawal from them is 7% lower than the multiyear average. That said, requests for transit of Russian gas through Ukrainian territory have risen by 16% to 35.8 mln cubic meters.

Gas withdrawal from EU countries’ UGS facilities amounted to 506 mln cubic meters on February 13, according to data provided by Gas Infrastructure Europe (GIE). Meanwhile, the pumping into them amounted to 20 mln cubic meters.

The heating season started in Europe on November 14. Since then, EU countries have withdrawn 37 bln cubic meters of gas from UGS facilities. Currently European UGS facilities are roughly 65.66% full (20.12 percentage points higher than the average as of this date in the past five years), with 71.15 bln cubic meters of gas stored in them.

Requests for transit of Russian gas to Europe through Ukraine for February 15 have increased by 16% to 35.8 mln cubic meters via the Sudzha gas distribution station, according to data released on the website of the Gas Transmission System Operator of Ukraine (GTSOU). Consequently, supplies of Russian gas are gradually approaching the level of early 2023. They have already climbed by 46% in February compared with end-January.

The transit line through Ukraine remains the only route to supply Russian gas to western and central European countries after Nord Stream was damaged.

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