"Less tense situation": Gas shortages less likely this winter

The gas storage facilities in Germany are still full, the warm winter does the rest.

"Less tense situation": Gas shortages less likely this winter

The gas storage facilities in Germany are still full, the warm winter does the rest. Reason enough for the Federal Network Agency to give the all-clear cautiously - but a deterioration in the situation cannot be ruled out.

The warm winter and the full gas storage facilities make the Federal Network Agency optimistic. In the 52nd calendar week of 2022, significantly less gas was consumed than in previous years, Bundesnetzagentur boss Klaus Müller tweeted. That's why the Bonn authorities speak "from today about a 'less tense' situation."

"A gas shortage this winter is becoming increasingly unlikely," added the Federal Network Agency in its daily situation report. However, she warned that a worsening of the situation cannot be ruled out and economical gas consumption remains important.

So far, the Federal Network Agency had described the situation in the German gas supply as tense, and a further deterioration in the situation could not be ruled out. But last week, according to the Federal Network Agency, gas consumption was 30 percent below the average consumption of the last four years. The high temperatures, which were 3.8 degrees Celsius warmer than in previous years, also contributed to this. But even when adjusted for temperature, consumption in the 51st and 52nd calendar week was 20.4 percent below the reference value for the last four years.

Overall, the German gas storage facilities continue to post slightly increasing fill levels. However, the recent increase has only been minimal. According to data from the European gas storage association GIE, the storage facilities were 90.72 percent full at the end of Tuesday - an increase of 0.06 percentage points compared to the previous day. Gas reserves have risen for the 14th straight day after falling for several weeks.