Kommersant: gas withdrawal from European UGS facilities in November reached its maximum level over the past five years reached its maximum level over the past five years – 11.2 billion cubic meters, writes Kommersant. As the newspaper predicted, given the current daily rate of extraction of gas reserves, there may be a shortage until the end of the heating season, especially in case of cold weather in winter in the region.
According to Kommersant's analysts, the extraction of gas in storage has reached a record level over the history of observations – 11.2 billion cubic meters. Last year, this figure was 8.5 billion cubic meters, and the previous record was recorded in November 2016 – about 11.28 billion cubic meters.
The sharp increase in withdrawal from UGS facilities this November is associated not only with a cold snap, but also with the rise in gas prices. As a result, consumers are forced to pick up gas from storage facilities, since they are unable to purchase it at current prices. Gas sales by Gazprom to Europe are likely to be declining due to high prices.
According to Dmitry Marinchenko from Fitch, in just the last month, about 10 billion cubic meters of gas were withdrawn from European UGS facilities, usually during this period about seven billion cubic meters are taken from the UGS facility. “Problems will begin if the weather turns out to be cooler than usual, and suppliers, including Russia, are unable to dramatically increase supplies,” Marinchenko said.
Earlier, the Gas Infrastructure Europe (GIE) association reported, that Europe has spent about a quarter of the gas injected this year. As of December 4, 23.4 percent of gas was withdrawn from underground storage facilities in Europe.