Gas extraction from the European Union's underground gas storages (UGS) remains 14.5% higher than the average multi-year stats for mid-December, but lost the record pace in the middle of last week. The gas price in Europe also decreased by 15% by the weekend in anticipation of warm weather in the upcoming seven-day period - the temperature in most European countries is predicted to be higher than normal, Report informs via TASS.
Withdrawal of gas from UGS facilities in the EU countries on December 17, according to Gas Infrastructure Europe, amounted to 501 million cubic meters. For more than a week, gas withdrawals from storage facilities have been exceeding long-term averages. The heating season in Europe began on November 14, and since that moment, the EU countries have taken 13.26 billion cubic meters of gas from storage facilities.
UGS facilities in Europe are now 84.15% full (up 9.96 percentage points (p.p.) higher than the average for this date over the past five years), they contain just over 91 billion cubic meters of gas. Net withdrawal of gas from storage facilities is carried out by all EU countries, except for Portugal. However, Gazprom warned that even close to the maximum gas reserves in UGS facilities in major European countries do not guarantee them a stable autumn-winter period. The pressure on European gas storage facilities in winter will be higher than in previous years due to changes in logistics and gas supply sources.
At the same time, Europe has again increased the supply of liquefied natural gas (LNG) from terminals to the gas transmission system. The capacities of regasification of liquefied gas and its further injection into the pipelines of Europe are now loaded at 69% of the maximum. However, LNG is purchased at current high prices. At the same time, the average cost of gas by the end of last week dropped sharply to about $1,485 per thousand cubic meters amid forecasts for a warm week.