Europe's UGS Reserves at Multi-Year Lows, Gazprom Says

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Over the past winter, Europe withdrew 51 billion cubic meters of gas from underground storage, that is, 107.8% of the volume pumped there in summer, ending the season on 19 March at one of the lowest levels in terms of reserves in many years, Gazprom said.

"According to Gas Infrastructure Europe (GIE), the gas offtake season from European underground storage facilities ended on 19 March. By this time, only 25.2 billion cubic meters of active gas remained in them. This is one of the lowest levels over the long-term observation period and by 5.5 billion cubic meters less compared to the same date in 2021," the company said on Telegram.

"During the past winter season, 51 billion cubic meters of gas were taken from European UGS facilities, that is 107.8% of the volume that companies were able to pump in the summer of 2021," Gazprom added.

Replenishing Europe's underground gas storage facilities by the coming winter will require pumping in at least 63 billion cubic meters of gas, Gazprom said.

"Even to reach the level of 90% storage capacity, which is declared as the target in the European Union, it is necessary to pump in 63 billion cubic meters of gas. However, this is very ambitious. In recent years, such a volume has not been pumped in a season, and it is not enough to guarantee the consumption peaks in the event of an abnormally cold winter," it said.

Among key factors affecting the draining of European gas reserves was the unusually cold winter of 2020-2021 and a growing demand in fuel amid a recovery from the coronavirus pandemic and COVID-related restrictions.