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Europe’s relatively low gas stocks could be a problem

Gazprom warns that Europe may struggle to fill its gas reserves to last year's levels due to politically motivated decisions and increased competition for LNG. Europe's low stocks could become a concern.

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Europe may struggle to fill its gas stocks to last year’s levels, according to Russian natural gas giant Gazprom.

Politically motivated decisions hinder the import of Russian gas pipelines to Europe.

The continent ended the winter heating season with lower inventories than last year, with stocks holding just 56.6 billion cubic meters (bcm) of gas as of April 16, compared to 58 bcm over the same period in 2020. The European Union has invested heavily in liquefied natural gas(LNG) imports and increased storage to avoid shortages following a reduction in Russian gas supplies due to Moscow’s special military operation in Ukraine.

However, Gazprom warned that filling up stocks to last year’s level could become “a non-trivial task” due to politically motivated decisions to deny Russian gas pipeline imports.

The EU has invested in LNG imports and storage, but needs to diversify energy sources.

Last year, European imports of Russian pipeline gas fell to 62 bcm, 60% below the average for the previous five years. This year, Russian deliveries to the EU are expected to fall to 25 bcm, assuming flows via the TurkStream pipeline and through Ukraine are in line with December 2022 volumes, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA).

Gazprom has attributed the decline in Russian gas supplies to increased competition for LNG, which has further reduced the volume of gas available to the European market.

Gazprom also noted that Europe has been helped by relatively mild weather, which may not be the case next year. If temperatures fall and gas demand rises, Europe’s relatively low inventory could become a concern.

Although the EU has invested in LNG imports and storage, Gazprom’s warning underscores the importance of diversifying energy sources and reducing dependence on any single supplier.

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