MOSCOW, December 15. /TASS/. Gas reserves in underground storage facilities (UGS) in Europe are low and unusual for the first half of December, Gazprom said in a statement.
"Overall, European UGS facilities contained 71.2 billion cubic meters of gas as of December 13, which is 9.1 billion cubic meters less than last year's level. This figure is low and unusual for the first half of December. As a reminder, the lower the volume of gas reserves in storage facilities, the lower their productivity," the statement says.
In particular, gas reserves in UGS facilities in the Netherlands have fallen below 60%, although last year this volume was only reached towards the end of the month. USG facilities in Germany are 63.3% full.
Earlier TASS reported that gas reserves in underground storage facilities in Europe had dropped to around 70%, but the rate of withdrawal in December dropped significantly amid warm weather.
Earlier Gazprom predicted that the EU would face gas supply problems during freezing temperatures due to storage facilities not filling up. Gazprom CEO Alexey Miller said that long-term weather forecasts indicate the imminent arrival of an abnormally cold winter in Europe and Russia, a phenomenon that occurs approximately once every 20 years.