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Gas pumping into European UGS facilities up 15% in May, withdrawal down 4%

European UGS facilities were 48.32% full as of May 31

MOSCOW, June 2. /TASS/. Pumping of gas into European underground gas storage (UGS) facilities rose by 15% in May year-on-year, while reserves had increased to 48.3% by the end of the month, according to Gas Infrastructure Europe (GIE) data. With current gas pumping rates maintained, the EU may ensure its UGS facilities are 90% full as required by the end of this fall instead of November 1.

Gas pumping into UGS facilities in EU countries amounted to 10.7 bln cubic meters (bcm) in May, which is 15% higher than in the previous year. Withdrawal from UGS facilities reached 902 mln cubic meters (mcm), which is 4% lower than past year.

European UGS facilities were 48.32% full as of May 31 (10.94 percentage points lower than the average as of this date in the past five years). There were 52.9 bcm of gas stored in them as of the end of last month.

In May the gas price averaged $412 per 1,000 cubic meters in Europe (+0.8% compared with April), which is 15% higher than in May 2024. The share of wind generation in the EU’s electricity output averaged 15% in May, up from 14% in April.

The rates of LNG imports by Europe hit an all-time high level in May. LNG flows from European terminals to the EU’s gas transport system amounted to around 12.8 bcm last month, which is 0.7% higher than in April, and 38% higher than in May 2024.

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