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European storage facilities have gas reserves for 70 days — expert

Slovakia, despite having to increase its withdrawals by four times after the transit was stopped, has more gas reserves than the European average - for about 100 days, Alexey Grivach noted

MOSCOW, January 16. /TASS/. Underground storage facilities (UGS) in Europe have, on average, gas reserves for 70 days amid elevated rates of withdrawal and the termination of Russian gas transit through Ukraine, Deputy Head of the National Energy Security Fund, Valdai Club expert Alexey Grivach said.

"Here are figures for the first two weeks of 2025 - around 10 billion cubic meters of gas were withdrawn from European storage facilities. Now there are fewer than 70 billion left. At this rate, we can say that, on average, they have gas for about 70 days," he said during a discussion at the Valdai Club dedicated to the situation on the EU gas market after the termination of transit through Ukraine.

However, Slovakia, despite having to increase its withdrawals by 4 times after the transit was stopped, has more gas reserves than the European average - for about 100 days, the expert noted. Austria also has enough gas in its underground gas storage facilities for about 100 days, and Italy has even more reserves.

"But, as we know, troubles never come alone. We know that there are now serious issues with the supply of Azerbaijani gas, which was presented as a kind of panacea and salvation for South-Eastern Europe from the so-called dependence on Russian gas. The emergency situation with the underwater pipeline in the first phase of the Shah Deniz project reduced the supply of Azerbaijani gas to the border of Turkey and Europe by 30%. Accordingly, the supply has decreased for Bulgaria, Italy, Greece, and for those countries that concluded such small symbolic agreements at the end of last year to show that they have such a source in their gas balance," Grivach added.

Earlier, TASS reported, citing data from Gas Infrastructure Europe, that gas reserves in European underground gas storage facilities had dropped to 64%, and withdrawals had exceeded 900 million cubic meters per day for the first time in more than a year.

Nevertheless, the volumes of gas in underground gas storage facilities are the fourth highest in history. The agreement on the transit of Russian gas through Ukraine expired on January 1, 2025. It provided for the pumping of 40 billion cubic meters annually. However, Kiev’s refusal to extend the agreement deprived Gazprom of the technical and legal ability to supply fuel via this route, and therefore supplies were stopped on the morning of January 1. Russian President Vladimir Putin stated that there would be no new contract for the transit of Russian gas through Ukraine, since it would not be possible to renew the agreement a few days before the New Year. Kiev also announced its intention to stop transporting Russian gas.