MOSCOW, January 10. /TASS/. Gas reserves in underground gas storage (UGS) facilities in Europe have fallen to about 68% and the withdrawal rate since the beginning of the heating season is 28% higher than the average for the past five years, according to Gas Infrastructure Europe (GIE).
Nevertheless, gas volumes in UGS facilities are the fourth highest on record, and gas is trading on the European exchange at a price of about $480 per 1,000 cubic meters. Since the beginning of the heating season, the EU has withdrawn more than 32 bln cubic meters from UGS facilities.
Gas withdrawals from UGS facilities in EU countries on January 7 amounted to 660 mln cubic meters, according to GIE. Despite the high rate of consumption of gas reserves, the situation for Europe is far from catastrophic. The total volume of fuel in the UGS is the fourth maximum for the beginning of January for the entire observation period with 75.7 bln cubic meters of gas.
The most problematic years for the EU were 2018 and 2022, when the reserves in the storage facilities at the end of the heating season in spring dropped to critical levels below 18% and 26%, respectively (it was even necessary to resort to the withdrawal of the so-called buffer gas, which is used to maintain the required pressure in the storage facilities). Currently, the European UGS facilities are filled to 68.24% (6.08 p.p. lower than the average for this date over the past five years), which significantly exceeds similar indicators for the "problematic" years" - 62% in 2018 and 52% in 2022. At the same time, in January 2024, reserves exceeded 84%.
The heating season in Europe began on October 29, 2024 (10 days earlier than in the previous fall-winter season), and since then EU countries have withdrawn more than 32 bln cubic meters of gas from storage. At the same time, the total gas withdrawal from the UGS facilities on the 74th day after reaching the maximum filling level is 28% 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, 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 seven-day period, but further cooling is expected by the weekend. By the beginning of next week, daytime temperatures could drop below zero in a number of countries. Wind power accounted for 27% of EU electricity generation in January. The average gas purchase price in Europe in December was $489 per 1,000 cubic meters and in January it is still around $514.
LNG injections from terminals into the European gas transport system increased in January compared to the end of December. Currently, the capacity for regasification of liquefied gas and its subsequent injection into European pipelines is loaded at 45% of its maximum.