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Gas withdrawal from EU’s UGS above multi-year average, transit via Ukraine at 42.4 mcm

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

MOSCOW, March 3. /TASS/. Gas reserves in European underground gas storage (UGS) facilities have fallen below 61%, albeit remaining record for this season, while withdrawal from them is 47% higher than the multi-year average, reaching a five-year high. Requests for transit of Russian gas through Ukrainian territory equal 42.4 mln cubic meters.

Gas withdrawal from EU countries’ UGS facilities amounted to 582 mln cubic meters on March 1, which is the highest level for the day over the past five years, and higher than any figure on GIE record since 2011 except on March 1, 2018. Meanwhile, pumping equaled 17 mln cubic meters.

The heating season started in Europe on November 14. Since then, EU countries have withdrawn 43.24 bln cubic meters of gas from UGS facilities. Currently, European UGS facilities are 60.62% full (21.46 percentage points higher than the average as of this date in the past five years), with 65.82 bln cubic meters of gas stored in them.

Requests for transit of Russian gas to Europe through Ukraine for March 3 stand at 42.4 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). Supplies of Russian gas have returned to last year’s figures.

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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