The amount of gas reserves in Europe’s underground storage facilities (UGS) has dropped below 75%, according to Gas Infrastructure Europe (GIE) data.
European UGS are filled by 74.5%, containing a total of 81.2 billion cubic meters of gas, as of January 28 gas day, which ended at 04:00 GMT on January 29, after losing 1.14 percentage points in a day.
On January 28, 2022, Europe’s gas storage capacity was almost half that level, namely at 38.93%, according to the operator.
Earlier this month, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said that the EU managed to replace 80% of pipeline gas supplied by Russia, by reducing domestic demand and increasing supplies of liquefied natural gas from the US.
Western countries have been looking for ways to sanction Moscow’s income from oil and gas exports since the start of Russia’s special military operation in Ukraine on February 24, 2022.
The sanctions campaign has led to a major disruption on global energy markets, resulting in an energy crisis in Europe, with EU countries resorting to contingency plans. At the same time, European industry has been hit by efforts to forgo Russian supplies, as Moscow was the largest supplier of natural gas to the bloc, accounting for nearly 40% of its demand in 2021.
