MOSCOW, June 19. /TASS/. Net gas injections (the difference between volumes injected and withdrawn) by EU countries into underground gas storage facilities (UGS) since the start of the summer season in April 2026 have already exceeded 19 bln cubic meters, according to TASS calculations based on data from Gas Infrastructure Europe (GIE).

European gas storage facilities are currently 45.56% full, which is 14.38 percentage points below the average level for this date over the past five years, compared with 54.4% a year earlier. They currently contain 49.8 bln cubic meters of gas.

Total gas injections into European storage facilities since the beginning of June have amounted to 5.9 bln cubic meters, down 16% year-on-year. This figure is also 5% below the average storage filling pace for this date over the entire observation period. Gazprom previously noted that Europe continues to set anti-records in filling its underground gas storage facilities.

Under European Commission requirements, EU countries must ensure that their gas storage facilities are filled to 90% between October 1 and December 1 each year. In addition, a 10% flexibility margin is allowed in the event of difficult storage-filling conditions. Thus, net injections into European storage facilities ahead of the 2026-2027 fall-winter season must total at least 68 bln cubic meters to meet the filling target. A year earlier, Europe managed to reach only about 55 bln cubic meters.

The current injection season will take place amid higher fuel prices due to intensified competition with Asia for available liquefied natural gas volumes following the escalation of the Middle East conflict. Gazprom has forecast that gas inventories in European storage facilities may fail to reach even 70% ahead of the next heating season.

As TASS reported earlier, Europe completed its heating season in early April. The season became the second-longest since records began in 2011, lasting 173 days. It was surpassed only by the 2020-2021 heating season, which lasted an unmatched 190 days. Net withdrawals during the most recent heating season exceeded 61 bln cubic meters, which was 6.5 bln cubic meters more than the volume injected during the previous summer.