MOSCOW, April 3. /TASS/. The rate of natural gas injection into Europe’s underground storage (UGS) facilities is currently nearly three times higher than withdrawals. However, an upcoming cold snap over the weekend could once again delay the transition to full-scale replenishment of storage levels ahead of next winter, according to data from Gas Infrastructure Europe (GIE). For the past two weeks, storage levels have fluctuated between 33.5% and 34%, reflecting the seasonal shift between the withdrawal and injection periods.
On April 1, gas withdrawals from EU storage facilities amounted to 90 mln cubic meters, while injections increased to 268 mln cubic meters, according to GIE data. Due to high consumption levels during the past heating season, the total volume of gas currently in underground storage stands at 37.5 bln cubic meters - the sixth-highest level ever recorded for early April.
The previous gas withdrawal season in Europe officially ended on March 31, 2024, with storage facilities holding 58.44% of their capacity, the highest level on record for that date. As of now, European gas storage is filled to 33.86%, which is 11.47 percentage points lower than the five-year average for this time of year. In relative terms, this level is not only below the end-of-season figure from last fall-winter but also lower than the closing levels of the 2010-2011, 2011-2012, 2013-2014, 2015-2016, 2018-2019, 2019-2020, and 2022-2023 heating seasons.
Europe’s heating season began on October 29, 2024 - ten days earlier than in the previous fall-winter period. Since then, EU countries have withdrawn approximately 74.8 bln cubic meters of gas from storage, with net withdrawals totaling around 68.3 bln cubic meters.
This week has been exceptionally warm across Europe, but a sharp temperature drop is expected over the weekend. Wind generation accounted for an average of 13% of the EU’s electricity production in February and 17% in March. The average purchase price of natural gas in Europe was approximately $542 per 1,000 cubic meters in February and around $467 in March.
Liquefied natural gas (LNG) inflows into Europe’s gas transmission system in March set an all-time record. Currently, the regasification and pipeline injection capacity for LNG in Europe is operating at 59% of its maximum potential.