MOSCOW, July 15. /TASS/. Gas injections into Europe's underground gas storage (UGS) facilities have continued at the slowest pace for July in the past six years since the beginning of the month amid extreme heat, further complicating efforts to build inventories ahead of winter, according to TASS calculations based on data from Gas Infrastructure Europe (GIE).

Net injections (the difference between gas injected into and withdrawn from storage) by EU countries since the beginning of July are 17% lower than a year earlier and are at their lowest level in six years.

European gas storage facilities are currently 52.49% full, 15.33 percentage points below the average for this date over the past five years, compared with 63% a year earlier. They contain 57.4 bln cubic meters of gas, 11.7 bln cubic meters less than at the same time last year. Gazprom has forecast that gas inventories in European storage facilities may not even reach 75% by the start of the next heating season.

Under European Commission requirements, EU member states must fill their gas storage facilities to 90% between October 1 and December 1 each year. A 10% flexibility margin is allowed in the event of difficult storage-filling conditions. Accordingly, net injections into European storage facilities must total at least 68 bln cubic meters before the start of the 2026-2027 fall-winter season to meet the target. So far, Europe has injected only 39% of the volume required for the coming winter.

Storage refill rates this year have been significantly affected by Europe's unsuccessful competition with Asia for available LNG supplies during the Middle East conflict, higher fuel prices, and extreme heat in June and July. During such summer periods, electricity demand rises sharply due to increased use of cooling systems and air conditioning. Natural gas is one of the main sources of power generation alongside nuclear, wind, and solar energy.