MOSCOW, October 16. /TASS/. The rate of gas injection into underground gas storage (UGS) facilities in Europe continues to fall rapidly as temperatures in the region drop and prices rise, according to TASS calculations based on Gas Infrastructure Europe (GIE) data.

To date, Europe has managed to fill its UGS facilities to 74% of the volumes required for the upcoming winter.

As of October 14, Europe’s UGS facilities were 74.1% full (14.85 percentage points below the five-year average for this date), compared to 83% in the previous year, which is still the lowest level recorded for this date since tracking began in 2011. EU storage facilities hold around 81 bln cubic meters of gas, which is 10.6 bln cubic meters lower than last year’s levels and the lowest volume since 2013.

The European Commission requests EU members to make sure their UGS facilities are 90% full between October 1 and December 1 of each year. Moreover, 10% flexibility is allowed in the event of difficult UGS filling conditions. Thus, net injection into European storage facilities by the start of the 2026-2027 autumn-winter period must reach at least 68 bcm to meet the filling standard.