EU Gas Reserves Plummet as Winter Nears

The European Union's gas storage facilities are at historic lows as the continent prepares for winter. According to Le Monde, at the start of September, the EU's gas reserves were only 65% full, a level not seen in 15 years.

This is largely due to the war in the Middle East, which has disrupted gas prices. The blockade of the Strait of Hormuz prevented Qatar from exporting its liquefied natural gas (LNG), causing prices to skyrocket and European energy suppliers to slow their purchases.

'There was hope that the situation would normalize, that Qatar would return to the market and that prices would drop in time to fill the tanks before winter,' explained Anne-Sophie Corbeau, a gas expert at the Center on Global Energy Policy at Columbia University in New York. 'But that is not happening, and we risk going through the cold season without a real safety net.'

The EU still needs to acquire more than 100 terawatt hours of gas, equivalent to over €7 billion at current rates, to reach its minimum storage target of 75% by the start of the heating season.