GIE: Withdrawal from underground gas storage facilities in the EU surpasses injection for the first time since early April
MOSCOW, October 2 – RIA Novosti. For the first time since the end of the heating season in the region – late March – early April – withdrawal from underground gas storage facilities in the European Union exceeded injection, but 16 out of 18 countries with storage Plants continue to pump, the indicator turned negative, because in Belgium – One of the smallest by volume in the EU – the “underground” was emptied in one day, Europe’s (Gas Infrastructure Europe, GIE) according to uncertain data from the Association of Gas Infrastructure Operators.
Gas storage facilities in the European Union are 87.83% full, according to data at the end of the 30 September gas day (completed at 7:00 Moscow time on 1 October). The injection rate has been falling steadily since September 25 (0.32 pp, 0.23 pp, 0.2 pp, 0.18 and 0.15 pp. in the previous days). For comparison, the average injection rate in EU storage was 0.25 percentage points in September, compared to 0.37 percentage points a month ago.
The fill rate of European UGSFs drops to -0.51 pp for the sixth day. per day – the minimum value for six months. This is because the only storage facility in Belgium was emptied (-92.09 pp.). However, the data in the GIE is not final and is subject to change.
The total capacity of UGS facilities in the European Union is about 110 billion cubic meters, currently containing about 95.3 billion cubic meters of gas. The 80% target warehouse occupancy level, which European countries planned to reach by 1 November, was exceeded by 13 of the 18 EU countries with UGS facilities. Of these, the 90% threshold was exceeded by Germany, France, Italy, Netherlands, Poland, Spain, Portugal, Croatia, Denmark, Sweden. The furthest from the target is Latvia, where the “metros” are filled with 52.54% (-0.09 pp.).
Against the backdrop of limited gas supplies from Russia, the EU is buying liquefied natural gas, where it competes with Asian consumers. In 2021, 75 million tons of LNG were delivered to European countries, and taking into account the current dynamics in 2022, the figure could grow more than one and a half times – up to about 120 million tons, Ivan Timonin recorded in Vygon Consulting, RIA Novosti.
Source: Ria
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