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Gas reserves in UGS facilities down below 50% in Germany, at 30% in France

Those remaining on the list of top five countries in terms of the volume of gas storage capacity also actively consume the accumulated fuel as Austrian UGS facilities are 59.17% full

MOSCOW, February 10. /TASS/. Gas reserves in underground gas storage (UGS) facilities in Germany, which is Europe’s top country in terms of the volume of gas storage capacity, have dropped below 50%, according to data provided by Gas Infrastructure Europe (GIE).

As of February 8, German UGS facilities were 49.22% full with around 12 bln cubic meters (bcm) of gas stored in them, while reserves in France’s UGS facilities were down at 30% amounting to less than 4 bcm.

Those remaining on the list of top five countries in terms of the volume of gas storage capacity also actively consume the accumulated fuel as Austrian UGS facilities are 59.17% full, Italian UGS are 59.85% full, while in the Netherlands UGS facilities are 33.7% full.

Slovakian UGS are 56.4% full, Hungarian UGS are 52.51% full, Czech UGS are 48.65% full, Romanian UGS are 40.9%, Bulgarian UGS are 49.98% full, Belgian UGS are 35.79% full, while UGS facilities in Denmark, Latvia and Croatia are 42.34%, 52.84% and 30.65% full, respectively.

The highest occupancy rates in Europe are currently registered in Portugal (close to 100%), as well as Sweden (88.05%), Spain (69.48%), and Poland (62.73%).

TASS said earlier citing Gas Infrastructure Europe that gas reserves in Europe’s underground gas storage facilities had fallen to 49%, while withdrawal rates in February have been almost 60% higher than last year. Nevertheless, total gas volumes in UGS facilities are still at their fourth-highest level for early February since records started. Europe has withdrawn over 54 bln cubic meters from UGS facilities since the beginning of the heating season.

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