Gas reserves in the UGS of Europe have reached a maximum in the entire history of observations

As of October 14, European underground gas storage facilities are 97.9% full, which is a record for the entire history of observations. This is evidenced by GIE data. More than 105.1 bcm of gas are stored in the storages, which is also a record volume, and the maximum capacity is about 107.4 bcm.

During September, only 3.2 bcm of gas were injected into storage facilities, which is 62% less than last year during this period. Such a decrease in gas injection rates occurred due to long-term maintenance in Norway, due to which significant volumes of gas for export to Europe were unavailable.

Already in October, the supply of gas from Norway resumed, and in the first 14 days, more than 2.1 bcm were injected into storage facilities.

In 2022, the injection season lasted until November 14, and the storage facilities were then 95.6% full and stored 100.9 bcm of gas. This year, the storage facilities are already almost completely full, and it makes no sense to withdraw gas in conditions of reduced demand.

Despite the record high gas reserves in Europe, as well as sufficient free capacities for injection into Ukrainian UGS, foreign companies reduced the volume of gas injections to Ukraine in October. This is primarily due to high gas prices in Europe. According to the head of Naftogaz Oleksiy Chernyshov, foreign companies store more than 2.2 bcm of natural gas in Ukrainian gas storage facilities.