European Commission (EC) spokeswoman Anna-Kaisa Itkonen said at a press conference in Brussels, Belgium on March 3 that there were no problems with natural gas supplies via the TurkStream pipeline after the drone attack on February 28.
"We have no information about any problems with gas flows or security of supply sources," TASS quoted Itkonen as saying. "This is an issue that we have always closely monitored, on all energy infrastructure, because security of supply is our top concern for all member countries," she noted.
The Russian Defense Ministry had previously reported the shooting down of three drones near Russkaya - a key compressor of the Russian gas pipeline TurkStream - on February 28. Russia described the incident as a sabotage of Ukraine.
TurkStream is a gas pipeline from Russia to Türkiye and many European countries such as Hungary, Serbia, Bulgaria, Slovakia, Bosnia & Herzegovina and Greece.
The latest attack raised concerns about the safety of gas supplies in Europe.
Europe has been using up its gas reserves for this winter since January and is consuming gas reserves from underground storage facilities (UGS) at a faster pace.
According to data from Gas Infrastructure Europe (GIE) cited by Russian oil and gas giant Gazprom, the European UGS has only 39.2 billion cubic meters left as of February 28. This figure is equivalent to 38.5% of warehouse capacity, down 24.3 billion cubic meters compared to the same period last year.
Average gas consumption in Europe this winter will be 36% higher than last season and 22% higher than the annual average for 10 years, Gazprom noted.
Gas reserves of countries in the region for this winter have been completely depleted since January. As of February 28, the amount of gas consumed from Europe's UGS reached a total of 58 billion cubic meters, 1.5 times higher than the amount of gas pumped in the summer.
Gazprom warned: " Europe will enter the gas pumping season with almost empty storage. In the context of a shrinking reliable supply source, filling up reserves will face many difficulties".
The Russian oil and gas giant also said that the rate of gas withdrawals from underground European warehouses during the recent heating season could exceed previous years' highs. In the past decade, the time to remove gas from underground warehouses in Europe lasted from 19 to 51 days, with the amount of gas recovered ranging from 1.8 billion to 11.2 billion cubic meters.
Turkey also recorded a record high gas consumption in February 2025, exceeding 8 billion cubic meters. Turkey's Botas has also updated its daily gas consumption record twice, reaching 333.7 million cubic meters/day.
With rising consumption, falling reserves and geopolitical instability, Europe could face a harsher winter than ever in 2025.
