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Gas reserves in UGS facilities in Europe fall below 70%.

The withdrawal rate since the beginning of the heating season is about 30% higher than the average for the past five years, according to data from GIE

MOSCOW, January 7. /TASS/. Gas reserves in underground storage (UGS) facilities in Europe have fallen below 70% and the withdrawal rate since the beginning of the heating season is about 30% higher than the average for the past five years, according to data from Gas Infrastructure Europe (GIE). Nevertheless, the amount of gas in the UGS is the fourth highest in history and significantly higher than in the years when the reserve situation was critical.

Despite the high rate of consumption of gas reserves, the situation for Europe is far from catastrophic. The total volume of fuel in UGS is the fourth highest for the beginning of January for the entire observation period at 77.6 bln cubic meters. The most problematic years for the EU were 2018 and 2022, when reserves in storage facilities at the end of the heating season in spring fell to critical levels below 18% and 26%, respectively.

Currently, Europe's UGS facilities are 69.94% full (5.83 percentage points lower than the average for this date over the past five years), which significantly exceeds similar figures for "problem" years - 62.65% in 2018 and 53% in 2022. In January 2024, reserves exceeded 85%, and in early 2025, the rate of gas withdrawal from storage facilities is at the level of late December and is the highest for the month since 2021. Colder weather is expected in the region by the end of the week, which could further increase gas consumption.

The heating season in Europe started on October 29, 2024 (10 days earlier than in the last fall-winter season), and since then EU countries have withdrawn more than 30 bln cubic meters of gas from storage facilities. At the same time, the total gas withdrawal from UGS facilities on the 71st day after reaching the maximum filling level is 29% higher than the average value for this day over the last five years. The last season of gas withdrawal from European underground storage facilities ended on March 31, 2024, with 58.44% of the reserves remaining in them.

However, based on the results of the current fall/winter season, this figure will obviously be significantly lower. If the current selection rate of about 0.5 percentage points per day is maintained, reserves in the spring may fall below 30%.

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