Germany's gas storage facilities are 60% full ahead of winter

BRUSSELS, 28 Jun. (DPA/EP) -

Germany's gas storage facilities are 60 percent full according to data on Monday, marking a slight increase as the country tries to boost its gas stocks ahead of winter amid falling oil prices. supplies from Russia due to the conflict with Ukraine.

Figures from European gas infrastructure operator GIE have shown that German storage facilities were 60.26 percent full, 0.34 percent more than on Sunday.

The German government's target is to reach at least 90 per cent of storage capacity by early November, although this remains questionable in view of increasingly tight supplies and even the possibility of Russia ending its deliveries of gas to Germany entirely.

Even if the gas storage facilities are completely full by the end of autumn, the reserves would not be enough to see Germany through the winter.

The chairman of Germany's Federal Network Agency, Klaus Muller, has calculated that the country's gas storage facilities would only cover demand for two and a half months in an average winter without Russian gas supplies.

For this reason, Germany is desperately looking for alternative sources of gas imports, such as the supply of liquefied natural gas through floating terminals on the North Sea coast.

The chairman of industry association Zukunft Gas, Timm Kehler, has reacted skeptically to claims that the two planned terminals could be operational by the end of the year, telling Bild newspaper that more clarity was needed on investment issues. and regulation.

Kehler has stated that until now he only knew of the clear prospects for a terminal near Wilhelmshaven in Lower Saxony, and that the planned stationary terminals "have not yet made definitive investment decisions."

The development and expansion of German gas storage capacity must be accelerated if an import volume of 13 billion cubic meters of natural gas is to be facilitated in the coming year, Kehler said.