December 10 countries The EU has taken the maximum amount of gas from storage facilities for December from 2022. Since November, European stocks have been depleted at a record pace. Europe is colder than usual and there is no wind, which forces power plants to produce more and more gas-fired electricity.
On December 10, 708 million cubic meters of gas were taken from the storage facilities of the EU countries, according to GIE. This is the highest figure for this month since 2022. The total depletion of the UGS of the European Union for 10 days of winter exceeds the figures of the previous two years — 5.2 billion cubic meters.
In November The EU has already set an absolute record for gas extraction for this month of the year — 11.5 billion cubic meters. And at this rate, the EU's UGS reserves may drop from the current 88.4 billion cubic meters to 30 billion by April. This will give rise to new competition for LNG and rising gas prices, which in the region still exceed pre-crisis almost three times.
The growth of consumption is provoked by colder weather and calm. On December 12, the share of wind generation in Germany fell below 6%, and gas generation jumped to 33%. In the UK — up to 80%.
LNG supplies to the EU continue to grow and increased on average in December compared to November by 20 million cubic meters per day — up to 330 million cubic meters. But it is still lower than a year ago — by 30 million cubic meters. The average export from Norway is also lower than December 2023 — by 20 million cubic meters. An average of 330 million cubic meters per day are supplied to Europe.
The high growth in the selection from storage facilities may be explained by the fact that it is more profitable for traders to raise the "old" gas, which was bought in the summer at a lower price.
Gazprom's supplies remain stable. However, it is not known how the situation will develop from January 1, 2025. The issue of continuing Ukrainian transit has not been resolved. It can be partially compensated by the southern route — through Turkey. However, the EU countries may not receive about 3 billion cubic meters by the end of April, which will further hit the EU's storage reserves.
As Bloomberg analyst Stephen Stapzhinsky notes in X, Europe is now lucky with the fact that there is a weak demand for LNG in China and Chinese companies resell some of their cargoes without competing for liquefied gas.