MOSCOW, November 8. /TASS/. A cold snap has been forcing Europe to ramp up gas withdrawals from underground gas storage (UGS) facilities at a record pace in early November, further depleting fuel reserves that were already at historically low levels, according to TASS calculations based on Gas Infrastructure Europe (GIE) data.
Europe has begun the heating season with record-low gas reserves. Just 10 days have passed since underground gas storage facilities reached their peak fill level in the autumn (74.96%), yet the total volume withdrawn from them is already 2.2 times higher than the five-year average for this period. Moreover, on seven of these 10 days, October 28 and 29, and November 1, 2, 4, 5, and 6, daily gas withdrawal volumes hit record highs.
Since the start of the heating season on October 28, Europe has already withdrawn nearly 3 bln cubic meters (bcm) of gas from its storage facilities. Net withdrawal (the difference between the volume withdrawn and the volume injected) has exceeded 2 bcm, more than triple the five-year average.
Consequently, in terms of net withdrawals, European countries have already consumed 5% of the 51.2 bcm they had injected over the summer in preparation for the cold weather.
As of November 6, Europe’s UGS facilities were 72.98% full (16.63 percentage points below the five-year average for this date), compared to 82.8% in the previous year, which is still the lowest level recorded for this date since tracking began in 2011. EU storage facilities hold around 80 bln cubic meters of gas, which is 11.6 bcm lower than last year’s levels and the lowest volume since 2013.
The European Commission requests EU members to make sure their UGS facilities are 90% full between October 1 and December 1 of each year. Moreover, 10% flexibility is allowed in the event of difficult UGS filling conditions. Thus, net injection into European storage facilities was required to reach at least 68 bcm by the start of the 2026-2027 autumn-winter period in order to meet the filling standard. However, the European Commission, anticipating a very mild winter, was prepared to lower this target to 80% for this year.