BAKU, Azerbaijan, Feb.16. The volume of gas in Europe’s storages in January 2023 was higher than the 5-year historical average, Trend reports with reference to the Gas Exporting Countries Forum (GECF).
EU’s underground gas storages have a total working capacity of 104 billion cubic meters, with some countries exceeding the planned level of gas in storages for November 2022.
GECF estimates that the average daily amount of gas in storages dropped from 89.3 bcm in December 2022 to 82.5 bcm in January 2023. However, it was 34.8 bcm more than in January 2022 and 19.1 bcm higher than the 5-year historical average.
The average UGS capacity utilization dropped to 79 percent, gas injection stood at 1.5 bcm, while gas withdrawal amounted to 13.1 bcm.
In June 2022, the EU implemented new regulations for its member states as it relates to natural gas storage in underground sites. The mandate that was established is to fill UGS sites to at least 80 percent of capacity by November 1 2022, and to at least 90 percent of capacity by November 1 2023.
“The EU currently has around 4.7 bcm of LNG storage capacity. The majority of this storage is located in Spain (43 percent) and France (17 percent). Total LNG storage levels in the region stood at 3.0 bcm in January 2023, which was 2 percent lower m-o-m, but 13 percent higher y-o-y. LNG storage levels are expected to remain elevated during the winter months, as the EU has commissioned additional regasification capacity to counter the anticipation of lower PNG imports,” reads the report.
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