Financial Associated Press, October 14 (Editor Bian Chun) As the first winter without Russian gas in decades is approaching, Germany, Europe’s largest economy, ushered in a rare piece of good news: two weeks ahead of schedule. Many key natural gas storage goals have been achieved.
“Yes, it has reached 95%,” Beate Baron, a spokeswoman for the German economy ministry, confirmed industry data released late Thursday.
Germany’s natural gas storage level reached 95.14 percent, according to data updated on Thursday by European energy data platform AGSI.
Energy market pressure expected to ease
With inventories peaking, Germany can’t hoard more natural gas, which could be good news for global energy prices.
Global gas prices have surged in the past few months in a battle for natural gas as Russia cut supplies and Europe scrambled to find alternative sources. Although European gas prices have now fallen sharply from their August highs, they are still high.
The EU had previously set a target of 80% gas accumulation by November 1. According to official data, this goal has been achieved ahead of schedule. That should ease pressure on energy markets, assuming temperatures don’t plummet.
Risk has not been lifted
The sudden interruption of Russian gas supplies has dealt a heavy blow to Germany, which has stepped up efforts to fill gas storage facilities in order to weather the winter and avoid rationing.
95% is the national average level of gas hoarding that German authorities plan to reach by November 1. Earlier, Germany achieved 85% of its gas hoarding target a month ahead of schedule.
Germany’s progress in hoarding gas has reduced the risk of implementing energy rationing, but that doesn’t mean the risk is lifted, and how it ends up still depends on how much businesses and households reduce energy consumption and how cold it will be this winter.
Klaus Mueller, chairman of the German Federal Network Agency, previously said that even if Germany’s natural gas storage facilities are 100% full, it will only last for two and a half months if Russia completely stops supply.
Unless households manage to reduce gas consumption by at least a fifth, it will be a challenge to avoid an emergency, when rationing could be introduced, Mueller said.
James Henderson, chair of the Oxford Institute’s natural gas research programme, said last month: “Even at 100 per cent storage levels, it may not be enough to get us through the winter. So we could have some kind of crisis around January or February, which in A lot depends on the temperature.”