VNG boss sees no immediate supply risk despite low gas storage

The German gas storage facilities are so far even emptier than planned. But an important gas importer sees the system as being more robust than it was in the 2022 crisis - even if it gets cold.

Ulf Heitmüller: The VNG boss believes the risk of a gas shortage is manageable. Photo: Hendrik Schmidt/dpa

Oslo. According to the head of the gas importer VNG, Germany is heading into the winter without any immediate supply risk, despite unusually low levels in the gas storage facilities. “Compared to 2022, the system is significantly more robust overall,” said CEO Ulf Heitmüller in an interview with the Reuters news agency published on Monday.

Heitmüller referred, among other things, to imports of liquefied natural gas (LNG). “We have more access to LNG and we have expanded our supply sources.” The German gas storage facilities are only 57 percent full. This is a historic low for the end of September and well below the European average.

The Leipzig company VNG, which is majority owned by the utility EnBW, is one of the largest German gas importers alongside the nationalized energy companies Uniper and Sefe. Heitmüller emphasized that his company had set up its portfolio in such a way that it could meet its delivery obligations even in a cold winter.

Gas prices more than doubled in 2026

VNG sources pipeline gas from Norway and has contracts for supplies from Algeria and Azerbaijan. These suppliers have become more important since Russian pipeline deliveries stopped.

Heitmüller pointed out that gas storage is part of security of supply, but not the only decisive factor. “It’s more a combination of storage, imports and LNG availability.” Additional import shortfalls, a shortage on the global energy market or infrastructure disruptions combined with colder weather this winter could nevertheless lead to price spikes.

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European gas prices have more than doubled this year to around 75 euros per megawatt hour (MWh) after the closure of the Strait of Hormuz in the wake of the Iran war limited global LNG supplies. EU Energy Commissioner Dan Jorgensen warned last week that the international community was threatened with an energy price crisis this winter.

The federal government has so far resisted calls for direct intervention to increase storage volumes, but supports the tender for reserve gas for the first quarter of 2027. Heitmüller welcomed this step. It creates incentives for gas storage without distorting the market.

More: The “historically low” filling level of the gas storage facilities is to be increased quickly

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