The European Commission is considering lowering the threshold for how full European Union gas storage facilities must be before winter, after reserves across the bloc reached just 65 percent of capacity, well short of the current 90 percent requirement, Commission spokeswoman Anna-Kaisa Itkonen said.
Itkonen made the comments at a briefing in Brussels, according to the Russian state news agency TASS. She said officials plan to lower the required minimum from 90 percent to 75 percent because of the record-low storage levels recorded going into this year's heating season.
How the EU could ease the rule
Itkonen said EU legislation set a target of 90 percent for gas reserves, but the Commission had already told member states this year that 80 percent would be sufficient for the winter season. She added that EU rules allowed for a further reduction of five percentage points through a special Commission decision, which would bring the effective target down to 75 percent.
The European Commission is the EU's executive arm, responsible for proposing and enforcing the bloc's laws, including its energy policy. The bloc introduced mandatory gas storage fill targets in 2022 after Russia sharply cut pipeline gas deliveries to Europe, aiming to prevent shortages during winter months when heating demand peaks.
Warning of a gas deficit
Independent oil and gas market analyst Vladimir Demidov had earlier said a gas deficit in Europe this winter was inevitable regardless of storage levels, with the only real question being how severe it would be.
Demidov said the only way for Europe to get through the winter without a catastrophic shortage would be for the United States and Iran to resolve their dispute, which he said would allow Qatar to increase its gas supplies to Europe. Qatar is one of the world's largest exporters of liquefied natural gas.
Failing that, Demidov said, Europe would have to cut gas supplies to households and would again have to impose penalties, as it did during the winter of 2022-23.
