Document shows that the EU Commission has set a 50% storage target by February 2025.
The European Commission announced on Friday that Europe had set a target to have its gas storage 50% full by February 1, 2025. This is to ensure supply security amid cold weather forecasts and fears of Russian gas disruption.
It is important to ensure that the gas supplies of the EU do not fall too low during the winter months, and that the supply remains stable in light of the end expected for Russian gas to Europe via Ukraine's transit route.
The goal of setting the target for February to an average minimum around 50% is to strengthen the security of the gas supply, by ensuring a high level availability from storages during December 2024 and in January 2025, when gas demand will be high. This is especially important if the winter of 2024-2025 is colder than normal. In a document, it was stated.
Gazprom's internal planning for 2025 assumes that after December 31, no gas will be sent to Europe via Ukraine.
Kyiv said that it wanted to end the transit agreement, which would bring an end to the more than 50 years of gas flowing from Siberia into the markets of Central Europe. This began in Soviet times and was a constant source of revenue for the Russian budget.
Daniel Hynes is a senior commodity strategist with ANZ Bank. He said that forecasts suggest Europe may be in for the coldest Winter since Russia invaded Ukraine. This will increase demand for LNG, and keep energy prices high.
After the news, EU gas prices rose at the market close. The benchmark front-month contract for the Dutch TTF hub closed 1.22 euros higher than the previous month's contract, at 47.5 euros per Megawatt Hour (MWh), which is $15.00/mmBtu.
As cold weather has spread throughout Northwest Europe, the withdrawal of EU gas stock has increased. Storage is currently 85.65% full compared to 97% last season. (Reporting by Susanna Twidale, Marwa Rashad and Andrew Heavens; Editing and David Evans)
(source: Reuters)
