EU lags behind in filling gas storage ahead of winter season

The European Union is significantly behind in filling its underground gas storage (UGS) facilities ahead of the upcoming winter season, according to calculations based on data from Gas Infrastructure Europe (GIE).

Net gas injection into EU underground storage facilities since the start of the summer season in April 2026 has exceeded 18 billion cubic meters. Currently, European gas storage sites are 44.72% full — 14.3 percentage points below the five-year average for this date — compared with 53.4% a year earlier. Total gas reserves stand at 48.9 billion cubic meters, TASS reports.

Gas injections into European storage facilities since the beginning of June amount to 4.9 billion cubic meters, down 16% year-on-year. This figure is also 4% below the average pace of storage filling for this date over the entire observation period.

Earlier, Gazprom noted a continued record-low pace in Europe’s storage replenishment.

Under European Commission rules, EU member states are required to ensure their gas storage facilities are 90% full between October 1 and December 1 each year, with a 10% flexibility margin in case of difficult conditions. This implies that net injections into European storage must reach at least 68 billion cubic meters ahead of the 2026–2027 heating season to meet the requirement. A year earlier, Europe managed to reach only about 55 billion cubic meters.

The current summer season is also expected to see higher fuel prices due to increased competition for available liquefied natural gas (LNG) volumes, driven in part by tensions in the Middle East and stronger demand from Asia. Gazprom has forecast that Europe’s gas storage levels may fail to reach even 70% before the next heating season.

By Jeyhun Aghazada