MOSCOW, February 3. /TASS/. Gas reserves in underground storage (UGS) facilities in Europe have dropped to around 53%, according to data from Gas Infrastructure Europe (GIE). However, gas volumes in UGS facilities are still the fourth highest in history for early February. Since the beginning of the heating season, the EU has withdrawn more than 49.5 bln cubic meters from its UGS facilities.
Gas withdrawals from UGS facilities in EU countries amounted to 557 mln cubic meters on February 1, according to GIE. Injections decreased to 28 mln cubic meters. Despite the high rate of consumption of gas reserves in January, the situation is still far from catastrophic for Europe. The total volume of fuel in UGS facilities is the fourth highest for the beginning of February for the entire observation period with less than 59 bln cubic meters of gas.
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). Currently, the European UGS facilities are filled to 53.11% (7.03 p.p. lower than the average for this date over the past five years), which is already lower than the figure not only at the end of the last fall-winter period, but also at the end of the 2019-2020 and 2022-2023 heating seasons.
The heating season in Europe began on October 29, 2024 (10 days earlier than in the last fall-winter season), and since then EU countries have withdrawn more than 49.5 bln cubic meters of gas from storage facilities. At the same time, the total gas withdrawal from the UGS facilities on the 96th day after reaching the maximum filling level is 25% higher than the average for this day over the last five years. The most problematic years for the EU were 2018 and 2022, when the reserves in storage facilities at the end of the heating season in spring dropped to critical levels below 18% and 26%, respectively and it was even necessary to resort to the withdrawal of so-called buffer gas, which is used to maintain the required pressure in storage facilities.
The current week in Europe is expected to be colder than the previous seven days. The share of wind power in EU electricity generation averaged 21% in January, while it was only about 8% in the first days of February. The average gas purchase price in Europe in December 2024 was $489 per 1,000 cubic meters, while in January this year the figure reached around $518.
The deliveries of LNG from terminals to the European gas transmission system decreased slightly in January compared to December. Currently, the capacity LNG regasification and its subsequent injection into European pipelines reaches 51% of its maximum.