MOSCOW, July 17. /TASS/. Gas reserves in Europe's underground gas storage (UGS) facilities have risen to 53%, although this remains the lowest level for this time of year in the past five years, according to TASS calculations based on Gas Infrastructure Europe (GIE) data.

At the same time, net gas injections (the difference between gas injected into and withdrawn from storage) by EU countries since the start of the 2026 summer injection season in April have exceeded 27 bln cubic meters, representing only 40% of the volumes needed for the coming winter. Since the beginning of July, the figure has also remained at its lowest level in six years.

Europe's UGS facilities are currently 53% full (15.38 percentage points below the five-year average for this date), compared with 63.6% a year earlier. They contain 57.9 bln cubic meters of gas, 11.8 bln cubic meters less than a year ago. Gazprom has forecast that gas reserves in Europe's underground storage facilities may fail to reach even 75% by the start of the next heating season.

Under European Commission requirements, EU member states must fill their gas storage facilities to 90% capacity between October 1 and December 1 each year. A 10% flexibility margin is permitted in the event of difficult storage-filling conditions. Accordingly, net injections into European storage facilities must total at least 68 bln cubic meters by the start of the 2026-2027 fall-winter season to meet the required target.

Storage injections this year have been significantly affected by Europe's loss of 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 for cooling systems and air conditioning rises sharply. Natural gas is one of the main sources of electricity generation alongside nuclear, wind, and solar power.