BAKU, Azerbaijan, October 19. In the EU, storage facilities concluded the 2022/23 heating season with inventory levels that were 67 percent higher (23 bcm) than their five-year average, Trend reports.
According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), this outcome was a result of lower-than-average net withdrawals during the winter. The slower build-up of storage during the summer was influenced by reduced primary gas supply, encompassing domestic production and imports. Net injections, totaling 42 bcm in 2Q and 3Q2023, fell 22 percent below their five-year average.
Although the more measured injection rates moderated the EU's storage surplus, inventory levels remained 12 percent higher, amounting to 10 bcm, than their five-year average as of October 1, 2023, the agency noted. Consequently, EU inventory levels reached 96 percent of their working storage capacity at the start of the 2023/24 heating season, exceeding the EU storage target by 6 percent.
Meanwhile, in Ukraine, gas inventory levels were estimated at 9 bcm at the end of March 2023 and increased to 15 bcm by the end of the third quarter. As EU storage sites reached 90 percent of their working storage capacity by the beginning of August, injections progressively shifted to Ukraine. Ukraine alone accounted for over 25 percent of the total European storage injections during August and September. European traders injected 2 bcm of natural gas into Ukraine's gas storage facilities ahead of the 2023/24 winter season.
