MOSCOW, November 12. /TASS/. Europe continues to withdraw gas from underground gas storage (UGS) facilities at a record pace, with the cumulative withdrawal for the month from November 1 to 10 having hit a new high for the tenth consecutive day of 3.85 bln cubic meters (bcm), according to TASS calculations based on Gas Infrastructure Europe (GIE) data.
The cumulative volume of withdrawals since the beginning of the month is 2.8 times higher than that in the same period last year.
As of November 10, Europe’s UGS facilities were 71.61% full (17.52 percentage points below the five-year average for this date), compared to 82.39% in the previous year, which is still the lowest level recorded for this date since tracking began in 2011. EU storage facilities hold 78.4 bcm of gas, which is 12.56 bcm lower than last year’s levels, and the lowest volume since 2013.
Since the start of the heating season on October 28, Europe has already withdrawn almost 4.6 bcm of gas from its storage facilities. Net withdrawal (the difference between the volume withdrawn and the volume injected) has exceeded 3.8 bcm, more than triple the five-year average.
Consequently, in terms of net withdrawals, European countries have already consumed 7.4% of the 51.2 bcm they had injected over the summer in preparation for the cold weather.
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.