Despite the European Commission’s assurances about the security of gas supplies, EU stocks contain 16% less gas than at the start of 2023. Only Portugal has a greater volume of gas storage 100%.
The suspension of Russian gas flows through Ukraine has raised concerns about gas supplies across 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 active gas storage, exceeding 100%. Sweden follows with 88% and Poland with almost 79%.
On the other hand, the Netherlands has the lowest volume of useful 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 bloc, the European Commission has said the security of gas supplies is not under threat.
“The gas supply has been secured via alternative routes (Germany, Italy) and by storage withdrawals,” 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
Slovakia, Hungary and Austria continue to rely on the Russian gas pipeline since the invasion.
According to the International Energy Agency, 65% of gas demand in 2023 in these three countries passed through the Ukrainian transit route.
Slovakia openly criticized Ukraine’s decision not to renew the transit contract.
Prime Minister Robert Fico reiterated his claims that the move would be more damaging to the EU than to the Kremlin.
Fico also threatened to cut electricity flows to Ukraine and cut aid to Ukrainian refugees.
