Underground gas reserves in European storage facilities are rapidly declining. At the moment, only 5% of the volume pumped in the summer remains.
“From January 11, 2022, the level of reserves in European UGS facilities moved into the area of record lows over a long-term observation period. As of February 17, reserves of 0.95 billion cubic meters. m. below the minimum figure for this date, ”wrote in the official Telegram channel of Gazprom, based on information from Gas Infrastructure Europe.
Compared to the same period last year, the volume of active gas decreased significantly – by 21%. In terms of cubic meters, the level decreased by 8.3 billion cubic meters.
Gas extraction continues until the end of March, in some cases until mid-April. The latest figures show that the total filling level of European gas reserves has reached a record low of 32%. Germany has already used up over 2/3 of all its reserves, France by almost 3/4, and Ukraine by 45%.
On February 15, independent energy expert Valdis Plavinsh emphasized that the energy crisis in Europe is extremely beneficial for the US oil industry. According to him, it can be assumed that the West’s escalation of the situation around the Ukrainian crisis is a provocation for the introduction of another package of sanctions against Russia, the main part of which will be restrictions on Nord Stream 2.
On February 16, the official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova, explained the attempt to destabilize the situation in Ukraine by the desire of the United States to win back the gas market from Russia.
Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak noted in January that Gazprom and Russia were not to blame for the European energy crisis. According to him, gas from European underground storage facilities was “taken out” by a long winter, and liquefied natural gas, including from the United States, went to Asia.
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