MOSCOW, July 28. /TASS/. European underground gas storage facilities (UGS) have approached 67%, according to data from Gas Infrastructure Europe (GIE). Meanwhile, since the beginning of the summer season in April, imports of liquefied natural gas (LNG) by European countries have already exceeded 47 billion cubic meters.
According to GIE, gas injection into UGS facilities in EU countries on July 26 amounted to 398 million cubic meters. Withdrawal decreased to 13 million cubic meters. The total volume of gas in UGS is only the sixth maximum for July over the entire observation period - 73.5 billion cubic meters of gas (-20% compared to the previous year).
Currently, Europe's UGS facilities are filled to 66.97% (8.18 percentage points lower than the average for this date over the past five years) compared to 83.9% a year earlier.
According to the new requirements of the European Commission, EU countries must ensure that their storage facilities are filled to 90% of their capacity between October 1 and November 1 of each year. In addition, 10% flexibility is allowed in the event of difficult conditions for filling UGS facilities. This requirement gives an additional impetus to the growth of gas prices on the European market.
According to TASS calculations, Europe's net gas injection in the upcoming UGS filling season must be at least 61 billion cubic meters in order to meet the filling requirement. This is almost 50% higher than the net injection a year earlier and one of the highest figures in history.
Earlier Gazprom predicted that Europe would have difficulties filling its storage facilities for the winter. The European countries will need more gas to replenish reserves this summer and, with limited new capacity coming online, will have to compete for LNG with Asia, whose demand for the fuel is growing. The Gas Exporting Countries Forum expected the EU to face significant difficulties in filling its underground gas storage facilities by 90% by winter and predicted that summer exchange prices for gas would be higher than they were in winter, which would undermine the economic feasibility of pumping gas into storage.
The current week in Europe is expected to be as warm as the previous one. The share of wind generation in the EU's electricity generation in June averaged 15% and about 11.5% in July. The average gas purchase price in Europe in June of this year was about $439 per 1,000 cubic meters, in July - about $410.
LNG imports
During the past heating season, Europe imported almost 63 billion cubic meters of LNG, which was the third highest figure for this period. A larger volume of regasified gas was supplied from LNG terminals to the EU gas transportation system only in the two previous winter seasons.
LNG imports by Europe in June were the highest for this month (12.2 billion cubic meters), and this month they have slightly lost the record pace for July.
At present, regasification capacity is operating at 44% of its maximum. Since the beginning of the summer period in April, total LNG imports by EU countries have already exceeded 47 billion cubic meters.