MOSCOW, February 13. /TASS/. Gas reserves in underground storage (UGS) facilities in Europe have dropped to around 47% and the withdrawal in February is a record for this month in the last four years, according to data from Gas Infrastructure Europe (GIE). Nevertheless, gas volumes in UGS facilities are still the fourth highest on record for the beginning of February. Since the beginning of the heating season, the EU has withdrawn more than 56 bln cubic meters from UGS facilities, which already significantly exceeds the injected volume for the fall-winter period.
According to GIE, gas withdrawals from UGS facilities in EU countries amounted to 735 mln cubic meters. Injections decreased to 21 mln cubic meters. Despite the high rate of consumption of gas reserves in the current month (the fourth in history for February), the total volume of fuel in the UGS is the fourth maximum for the beginning of February for the entire observation period with 52.4 bln cubic meters of gas.
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 (a record for the observation period). Currently, the European UGS facilities are filled to 47.24%, which is 8.5 p.p. lower than the average for this date over the last five years.
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began on October 29, 2024 (10 days earlier than in the last fall-winter season), and since then EU countries have withdrawn more than 56 bln cubic meters of gas from storage. At the same time, the total gas withdrawal from UGS facilities on the 106th day from the moment of reaching the maximum filling level is 26% higher than the average value for this day in the previous five years. 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 and it was even necessary to resort to the withdrawal of the so-called buffer gas, used to maintain the required pressure in the storage facilities.
The first half of the current week is relatively warm in Europe, but a severe cold snap is expected closer to the weekend, which will intensify at the beginning of the next week. The share of wind power in EU electricity generation averaged 21% in January and only around 13% in the first days of February. The average gas purchase price in Europe in December 2024 was $489 per 1,000 cubic meters, around $518 in January, and $590 in February.
LNG supplies from terminals to the European gas transport system in February are at record levels. Currently, capacities for regasification of liquefied gas and its subsequent injection into European pipelines stand at 52% of the maximum.