EU Forced to Tap Gas Reserves Amid Russian Supply Shortfall | Farsnews Agency

European energy companies started using gas from underground storage facilities to make up for supplies lost due to maintenance work on Russia’s Nord Stream 1 pipeline.

According to data from Gas Infrastructure Europe (GIE), 85.5 million cubic meters of natural gas were withdrawn from German UGS facilities on July 12, RT reported.

They exceeded the injection level for the first time since the beginning of April, data showed.

The largest withdrawals were made by German energy major Uniper, Austrian OMV and Norwegian Equinor.

Earlier, Uniper announced it did not rule out having to take gas from UGS facilities and reduce supplies as early as this week, while OMV announced a decrease in gas deliveries to Austria by about 70% amid the shutdown.

The situation has been exacerbated by production problems in Norway, Europe’s second largest natural gas supplier after Russia.

Equinor’s Sleipner gas field in the North Sea was forced to temporarily halt production this week due to multiple leaks.

Romania and Belgium also started tapping into reserves on July 12, as the shutdown of the Sleipner field also affected supplies to the Zeebrugge gas receiving terminal in Belgium.

As of July 12, the total reserves in Europe's gas storage facilities amounted to 62.57% of capacity, which is about 1.5% lower than the average for this date over the past five years. Currently, Europe has about 67 billion cubic meters of gas. Daily injection rates are roughly two times lower than before the shutdown of supplies via Nord Stream. The pipeline, which is one of the major routes for Russian gas supplies to Europe, is undergoing scheduled maintenance from 11- 21 July. But even before the shutdown it was operating at just 40% capacity because critical pipeline components were not returned to Russia due to Western sanctions.

Currently, the only remaining route for Russian gas supplies to the countries of Western and Central Europe is the transit line through Ukraine. However, those were cut by nearly half in May when Kiev shut down the Sokhranovka entry point, with only the Sudzha transit route still in operation. Gas supplies via Turkish Stream and Blue Stream have not been affected, but they are intended for Turkey and the countries of Southern and South-Eastern Europe.

The European Union is planning out a set of emergency measures to mitigate the impact of a potential Russian gas cutoff, Bloomberg reported on Wednesday. Among the measures being considered are stockpiling, directing supply to key industries, and placing restrictions on public use.

The steps are laid out in a draft document seen by Bloomberg, which calls for “early joint action at EU level” to address the bloc’s fears that Russia may abruptly cut off the gas supply to the continent.

“Acting now could reduce the impact of a sudden supply disruption by one third,” the European Commission stated in the document, which Bloomberg noted is still subject to change before it is adopted as policy next week.

According to the document, gas flows from Russia are now less than 30% of the 2016-2021 average. Should Russia pull the plug, the EU would like to have gas reserves at 80% in order to “reduce the impact of a sudden supply disruption by a third".

The EU plans to recommend that countries prioritize supply chains and key industries in the event of a cutoff, while incentivizing reduced usage through “market-based measures”, such as auctions or tender systems – which would drive up prices.

Domestic consumers will be hit with information campaigns urging them to reduce their home heating – as has already happened in several countries – and would have mandatory limits placed on their gas usage “during an alert level of crisis”, in Bloomberg’s words.