MOSCOW, December 15. /TASS/. Gas reserves in underground gas storage (UGS) facilities across Europe have fallen to around 70%, with withdrawal rates down sharply in December though due to warm weather, according to Gas Infrastructure Europe (GIE) data.

European UGS facilities are currently 70.14% full (9.22 percentage points lower than the average as of this date in the past five years) compared to 78.8% in the previous year. Since the heating season started on October 13, EU countries have withdrawn around 18 bcm of gas from storage facilities. However, net withdrawal exceeds 14 bln cubic meters (bcm). Gas volumes in UGS facilities currently total 77.5 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 expected to be warm. The share of wind generation in the EU’s electricity output averaged 20% in November, and it has been at around 18% in December. The gas price averaged $368 per 1,000 cubic meters in Europe in November, and around $331 in December.