This article was originally published in English
Although the European Commission has reassured about the security of gas supply, EU stocks contain 16% less gas compared to the start of 2023. Only Portugal has a volume of gas storage greater than 100%.
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The suspension of Russian gas flows through Ukraine has raised concerns about gas supplies to the EU.
Moscow previously supplied almost 40% of the EU’s natural gas through pipelines.
The latest figures show that Portugal has the highest volume of gas storage in operation, exceeding 100%. Sweden follows with 88%, and Poland with almost 79%.
On the other hand, the Netherlands has the lowest volume of gas stored, with 48.96%, followed by Croatia with 49.71% and France with 51.42%.
Despite these storage percentages, Portugal has the third smallest gas reserves in Europe, with a total of 3.59 terawatt hours, while Germany has the largest reserve with 178.28 terawatt hours.
As temperatures fall across much of the European Union, the European Commission has said the security of gas supplies is not under threat.
“Gas supply was ensured by alternative routes (Germany, Italy) and by withdrawals from stocks,” the European Commission said on January 2. “Storage levels, at 72%, are slightly above average (69%) for this time of year.
-However, EU stocks were just over 70% full at the start of this year, compared to around 86% a year ago.
Reactions from European leaders
Since the invasion, Slovakia, Hungary and Austria continue to depend on Russian gas pipelines.
According to the International Energy Agency, 65% of gas demand in 2023 in these three countries will be met through the Ukrainian transit route.
Slovakia openly criticized Ukraine’s decision not to renew the transit contract.
Prime Minister Robert Fico reiterated that this decision would be more damaging to the EU than to the Kremlin.
Mr. Fico also threatened to cut off electricity flows to Ukraine and reduce aid to Ukrainian refugees.
Video editor • Mert Can Yilmaz
Belgium
