European Union Gas Storage Facilities Filled By Over 90% - Gas Infrastructure Operator

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 07th October, 2022) The European Union continues to pump gas into underground storage facilities and has already filled them by more than 90%, according to Gas Infrastructure Europe (GIE) data.

European UGS are filled by 90.12%, containing a total of 97.4 billion cubic meters of gas, as of the gas day on October 5, which ended at 04:00 GMT on October 6, the data showed.

The daily increase is estimated at 0.24 percentage points, according to the GIE.

New EU rules require that by November 1, all countries must fill their facilities by at least 80%.

This figure has yet to be reached in Bulgaria (77.79%), Hungary (74.76%) and Latvia (55.13%). Meanwhile, only 18 countries out of 27 in the EU have underground gas storage facilities.

The heating season in Europe is expected to start in mid-October, although last year it was pushed to November. Meanwhile, gas stored in underground facilities accounts for only 25-30% of all gas consumed in Europe in winter.

According to Russian energy giant Gazprom, EU countries that has almost full UGS facilities cannot guarantee a reliable warm autumn-winter period.