EU Gas Storage Injections Lag Behind Previous Years, Raising Concerns
L'essentiel
- EU countries have injected over 20 bcm of gas into storage since April, but facilities are only 46.4% full, lagging behind previous years and the EU's 90% target for winter.
- Injections in June are down 16% year-on-year, amid competition for LNG and higher prices.
Résumé généré par IA
Pourquoi c'est important
EU countries must ensure gas storage facilities are 90% full by October 1 to December 1. Net injections into European storage facilities ahead of the 2026-2027 fall-winter season must total at least 68 bcm.
MOSCOW, June 22. /TASS/. Net gas injections (the difference between volumes injected and withdrawn) by EU countries into underground gas storage (UGS) facilities since the start of the summer season in April 2026 have already exceeded 20 bcm, according to TASS calculations based on data from Gas Infrastructure Europe (GIE).
European gas storage facilities are currently 46.4% full, which is 14.53 percentage points below the average for this date over the past five years, compared with 55.4% a year earlier. They currently contain 50.7 bln cubic meters (bcm) of gas.
Total gas injections into European storage facilities since the beginning of June amount to 6.9 bcm, down 16% year-on-year. This figure is also 6% below the average storage refill pace for this date over the entire observation period. Gazprom had previously noted that Europe continues to set anti-records in filling its storage facilities.
Under European Commission requirements, EU countries must ensure that their gas storage facilities are 90% full during the period from October 1 to December 1 each year. In addition, a 10% flexibility margin is allowed in the event of difficult storage refill conditions. Therefore, net injections into European storage facilities ahead of the 2026-2027 fall-winter season must total at least 68 bcm in order to meet the filling target. A year earlier, Europe managed to reach only about 55 bcm.
The current summer season will take place amid higher fuel prices due to intensified competition with Asia for available liquefied natural gas volumes as a result of the Middle East conflict. Gazprom has forecast that gas reserves in European storage facilities may fail to reach even 70% ahead of the next heating season.
As TASS reported earlier, Europe ended its heating season in early April. It became the second longest on record since observations 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 past heating season exceeded 61 bcm, which was 6.5 bcm more than the volumes injected last summer.
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Perspective IA — des possibilités, pas des certitudes
Gazprom forecasts EU storage may not reach 70% before winter.
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Questions ouvertes
- Will EU meet its 90% storage target?
- How will LNG competition impact prices further?
- What are the contingency plans for shortages?
