MOSCOW, February 18. /TASS/. Net withdrawal of gas from underground gas storage (UGS) facilities in Europe has exceeded 55 bln cubic meters (bcm) since the beginning of the heating season, according to TASS calculations based on data from Gas Infrastructure Europe (GIE). Thus, EU countries have used up all the gas they pumped into underground gas storage facilities in the summer and have begun drawing on the remaining reserves from previous years.

Gas withdrawal from UGS facilities in EU countries amounted to around 580 mln cubic meters (mcm) on February 16. The total rate of withdrawal from storage facilities since the beginning of the month is currently the seventh-highest for February. The total volume of fuel in UGS facilities currently stands at around 36.5 bcm.

Temperatures in Europe this week are expected to be significantly lower than during the previous seven-day period. Warmer temperatures are expected to return to the region by the weekend.

Wind power's share of the EU’s electricity generation averaged 19% in January, and it has been at an average of 21% in February. The gas purchase price in Europe has averaged $405 per 1,000 cubic meters in February, down from $415 in January.

European UGS facilities are currently 33.02% full (16.28 percentage points lower than the average as of this date in the past five years) compared to 44.1% in the previous year. Since the heating season started on October 13, 2025, EU countries have withdrawn around 60.5 bcm of gas from storage facilities.