MOSCOW, January 16. /TASS/. In mid-January 2026, European countries set a record for daily imports of liquefied natural gas (LNG) amid a cold snap, according to data from Gas Infrastructure Europe (GIE).

As of January 14, LNG flows from European terminals into the EU gas transmission system reached 486 mln cubic meters, the highest level recorded since monitoring began. The previous record was set in June 2025.

Overall, Europe in January continues to actively withdraw gas from its underground storage facilities (UGS), driven by a significant drop in temperatures across the region.

The previous gas withdrawal season from Europe’s underground storage facilities ended on March 28, 2025, when inventories stood at 33.57%. Currently, Europe’s UGS sites are filled to 51.87% (15.34 percentage points below the five-year average for this date), compared with 64.2% a year earlier.

Since the start of the heating season on October 13, EU countries have withdrawn about 39 bln cubic meters of gas from storage. Net withdrawals (with total withdrawals exceeding injections) have reached 34 bln cubic meters. At the same time, cumulative withdrawals from UGS on the 94th day since storage levels peaked are 7% below the average for that day over the previous five years.

The total volume of fuel currently held in UGS stands at just 57.3 bln cubic meters.