MOSCOW, March 26. /TASS/. Gas withdrawal from underground gas storage facilities (UGS) in Europe has once again exceeded pumping, which delays the start of the period of filling the UGS facilities for the next heating season, according to data from Gas Infrastructure Europe (GIE). Although the rate of withdrawal has slowed, it is more than a third higher than last year's figures.
Gas withdrawal from UGS facilities in EU countries amounted to 201 mln cubic meters (mcm) on March 24, according to GIE. Pumping has declined to 82 mcm. Gas volumes in UGS facilities total 37.5bcm, which is the sixth-highest level for March since records started.
The season of gas withdrawal from European UGS facilities ended on March 21. Now they are 33.91% full (11.35 percentage points lower than the average as of this date in the past five years).
The heating season in Europe started on October 29, 2024, and lasted for 144 days, during which EU countries withdraw over 73 bcm of gas from UGS facilities.
The share of wind generation in the EU’s electricity output averaged 13% in February, and 16% in March. The gas purchase price averaged about $542 per 1,000 cubic meters in Europe in February, and around $470 in March.
LNG have been supplied from terminals to Europe’s gas transport system with record rates this month. Facilities for regasification of liquefied gas and its further pumping into Europe’s pipelines are loaded by 55% of their capacity now.