MOSCOW, November 20. /TASS/. Withdrawal of gas from underground gas storage (UGS) facilities in Europe has approached the normal levels seen at the end of November amid a cold snap for the first time since the start of the heating season, according to Gas Infrastructure Europe (GIE) data.

Gas withdrawal from UGS facilities in EU countries amounted to 482 mln cubic meters (mcm) on November 18, according to GIE. Pumping has fallen to 23 mcm. Gas volumes in UGS facilities total 89.7 bln cubic meters (bcm).

European UGS facilities are currently 81.17% full (8.9 percentage points lower than the average as of this date in the past five years) compared to 90.3% in the previous year. Since the heating season started on October 13, EU countries have withdrawn over 5 bcm of gas from storage facilities. However, net withdrawal amounts to around 2 bcm.

The European Commission requests EU members to make sure that their UGS facilities are 90% full from October 1 to December 1 of each year for ensuring elevated reserves for the winter period to be prepared for interrupted supplies or abnormally cold weather. Moreover, a 10% flexibility is allowed in the event of difficult filling conditions for underground gas storage facilities. However, net injection into European storage facilities by the beginning of the autumn-winter period amounted to only 54.7 bcm of the 61 bcm required to meet the filling standard.

The weather in Europe this week is turning out to be colder than in the previous seven-day period. The share of wind generation in the EU’s electricity output averaged 21% in October, and it has been at around 19% in November. The gas price averaged $384 per 1,000 cubic meters in Europe in October, and around $374 in November.

In October, Europe set an all-time record for liquefied natural gas (LNG) imports for that month. Overall, during the summer season from April to October, the EU purchased a record 82.5 bcm of LNG. Facilities for regasification of liquefied gas are loaded by 57% of their capacity now.