Russian oil and gas corporation Gazprom warned that the European Union (EU) may face the risk of gas shortages as reserves in underground storage are decreasing at an unusual rate this heating season.
According to Gazprom, as of January 4, Europe's underground gas storage facilities are only 59.9% capacity - a level that usually only appears at the end of January in previous winters.
This figure is calculated based on data from Gas Infrastructure Europe (GIE) and is about 13% lower than the 5-year average for the beginning of January.
Notably, the strongest decrease recorded at major consumption hubs of the EU. The Netherlands, the third largest country in storage capacity, is currently only 46.1%, while Germany - the largest gas consumer and storage country in the bloc - also only reached 54.1%.
Gazprom said that since the heating season began, the EU has withdrawn 23.6 billion cubic meters of gas stockpiles, equivalent to nearly half of the gas pumped in before the winter. The rate of stockpile withdrawal this season is even faster than the previous heating season, despite the fact that the year-end holiday season usually has lower demand.
According to Gazprom, on December 24 and 25, the amount of gas withdrawn from storage set a record high for these days.
The rapid depletion of gas reserves in underground storage leads to an early decline in supply capacity and threatens a stable gas supply for consumers in cold conditions," Gazprom warned.
The direct cause comes from the strong cold air wave at the end of December, when Arctic gas masses poured into Europe, causing heating demand to surge and pushing gas consumption up.
Forecasts show that temperatures in the first half of January could drop to the lowest level in 15 years, continuing to put great pressure on the energy system.
Since the Ukraine conflict escalated in February 2022, the EU has sharply cut energy imports from Russia, which once accounted for about 40% of the bloc's gas demand. According to the RePowerEU plan, Brussels aims to completely eliminate Russian energy before 2027.
Moscow has repeatedly criticized the EU's sanctions as "self-harmful" and even "economic suicide", saying that Europe is trading cheap energy sources for political considerations.
Last month, the Kremlin also warned that the plan to eliminate Russian gas in the period 2027-2028 could weaken the EU's competitiveness and push up energy prices for consumers.
