Europe has decided not to worry about gas

European Commission and countries The EU has decided not to ring the bells yet because of low gas reserves and high prices.

"Despite the lower gas reserves in storage facilities compared to previous years, the member states and the European Commission consider that there is no immediate threat to the reliability of gas supply There is no EU," the European Commission (EC) said in a statement.

At the meeting of the Gas Coordination Group (GCG), experts from the EC and member States The EU considered that the current situation is significantly different from the situation of 2021-2022.

"Today, the EU is better prepared for the challenges due to the diversification of supplies, an increase in LNG import capacity and a decrease in gas demand. According to forecasts based on historical data, the EU is moving towards achieving a sufficient level of preparedness for the winter period. In the circumstances, the European Commission sees no reason to intervene," the EC said.

At the same time in Brussels acknowledged that geopolitical uncertainty continues to provoke significant price volatility.

"In general, the situation in the Middle East remains unstable, and LNG production in Qatar is still suspended. In addition, the recent heat waves in Europe have led to an increase in demand for gas for the needs of the electric power industry," the European Commission said and promised to monitor the situation.

By September 6, the filling of European UGS facilities reached almost 67%, while the difference from last year's figures began to grow again — 13.7 billion cubic meters of gas. At the same time, the cost of fuel on European stock exchanges is still breaking records this year - at the beginning of September, quotes were held at a level above $ 890.

As EADaily reported, at the end of August, European companies began to increase LNG imports and stocks in storage facilities began to grow more actively. However, on the last day of summer, Norway began the traditional stage of preventive repairs at fields in the North Sea and the drop in its exports ate up all the growth in LNG supplies.

What's next? For example, in Germany, where storage facilities are only slightly more than half full, the association of UGS operators called on the authorities to remove fees and even provide government loans so that companies can increase gas injection. Berlin is still silent. It is obvious that prices are already extremely high and interventions in the market will provoke new growth. Another way out is to expect that the winter will be warm.