- Currently, European UGS facilities are 77.06% full (20.14 percentage points higher than the average as of this date in the past five years), with 83.5 bln cubic meters of gas stored in them
According to TASS, Russia's state-owned news agency article published on January 25, 2023, gas reserves in Europe’s underground gas storage (UGS) facilities have decreased to 77%, stably remaining all-time high for this season due to favorable weather. Withdrawal from UGS facilities has reached the highest level since the middle of December 2022. That said, requests for transit of Russian gas through Ukrainian territory remain lower, having lost 44% since the beginning of January.
Gas withdrawal from EU countries’ UGS facilities amounted to 766.5 mln cubic meters on January 23 (the minimum level for the day in the past three years), according to data provided by Gas Infrastructure Europe (GIE). Meanwhile, the pumping into them equaled 11 mln cubic meters.
The heating season started in Europe on November 14. Since then, EU countries have withdrawn 24.24 bln cubic meters of gas from UGS facilities. Currently, European UGS facilities are 77.06% full (20.14 percentage points higher than the average as of this date in the past five years), with 83.5 bln cubic meters of gas stored in them.
Requests for transit of Russian gas to Europe through Ukraine for January 25 remain at lower level of 24.4 mln cubic meters via the Sudzha gas distribution station, according to data released on the website of the Gas Transmission System Operator of Ukraine (GTSOU). Consequently, gas supplies to Europe via Ukraine have dropped by 44% since the beginning of January. Previously they remained at 42-43 mln cubic meters per day. The transit line through Ukraine remains the only route to supply Russian gas to western and central European countries after Nord Stream was damaged.
