BAKU, Azerbaijan, August 27. Gas reserves in EU underground gas storage (UGS) facilities may be insufficient in the coming winter in case of cold weather and cessation of Russian fuel transit, Bloomberg experts believe, Trend reports.
Nowadays, European UGS facilities are almost 90 percent full, although the heating season is still more than two months away.
“This is quite a high level of reserves, but the majority of the reserves remained from that winter due to earlier warming. This time, however, the cold weather could come earlier and then the EU region could face gas shortages,” Bloomberg warns.
Among other factors, while last year there were ships filled with liquefied natural gas (LNG) off European shores as a safety net, this year the EU does not have such a large reserve, because LNG supplies fell by almost 20 percent in the summer due to high demand in Asia.
“The contract for the transit of Russian gas through Ukrainian lands to Europe expires on January 1, 2025, and Kyiv is not going to prolong it. The issue of gas supply for some countries, especially Hungary and Slovakia, will become particularly acute without fuel from Russia,” Bloomberg believes.
Experts of this authoritative agency draw attention to the fact that “although gas prices in the EU in 2024 are lower than two years ago, they are still twice higher than before the Ukrainian conflict, which means that Europe has not yet coped with the energy crisis.
The EU's gas needs exceed 400 bcm per year.
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