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Europe withdraws over 30 bcm of gas from storage since start of heating season

Gas withdrawals from UGS facilities on January 10 amounted to around 740 mln cubic meters

MOSCOW, January 12. /TASS/. Net withdrawals (the net difference between withdrawals and injections) of gas from Europe’s underground gas storage (UGS) facilities since the start of the heating season have exceeded 30 bln cubic meters, accounting for about one-third of total gas reserves in the region, according to data from Gas Infrastructure Europe (GIE).

Gas withdrawals from UGS facilities on January 10 amounted to around 740 mln cubic meters. At the same time, the cumulative volume of withdrawals since the beginning of the month has slightly lost its record pace.

The previous gas withdrawal season from Europe’s underground storage facilities ended on March 28, 2025, when storage levels stood at 33.57%. Currently, Europe’s UGS facilities are 54.88% full, which is 14.91 percentage points lower than the five-year average for this date, compared with 67% a year earlier. Since the start of the heating season on October 13, EU countries have withdrawn about 35 bln cubic meters of gas from storage. Net withdrawals (with total withdrawals exceeding injections) have reached 31 bln cubic meters. At the same time, cumulative gas withdrawals from UGS facilities on the 90th day after reaching peak storage levels are about 10% below the average for that day over the past five years.

The total volume of gas currently held in underground storage facilities stands at just 60.7 bln cubic meters.

Gas reserves in Germany’s UGS facilities, the largest in Europe by storage capacity, have fallen to 47.4%. Other countries that are leaders in gas storage capacity are also actively drawing down their reserves. Storage facilities in France are 48.3% full, Austria 57.7%, Italy 69%, and the Netherlands 41.2%.

Storage facilities in Slovakia are filled to 54.8%, Hungary to 55.2%, the Czech Republic to 61.9%, Romania to 66.1%, Bulgaria to 64.9%, Belgium to 45.8%, Denmark to 44.1%, Latvia to 43.2%, and Croatia to 32.5%.

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