Gas receiving station. File photoMOSCOW, April 16The current dynamics of the replenishment of gas reserves in underground storage facilities in Europe indicates that not everything is fine with the injection, Alexey Belogoryev, deputy chief director for the energy direction of the Institute of Energy and Finance (IEF), told RIA Novosti. this year, it was very early in the regime of predominant gas injection, when the seasonal minimum of reserves was reached (25.51% of the nominal active volume). This dynamics was interrupted from March 31 to April 5 due to a sharp cooling. For comparison, the expert says, in 2021, the minimum level fell on an abnormally late period — April 19-20. According to retrospective data, in the first three weeks from the start of the injection period, reserves increase from 1.6% to 5.3%. In 2022, this value is 1.53%, that is, it does not reach the lower limit. indicates that not everything is going well with the injection,» Belogoriev believes. At the same time, he notes, the main problem is hardly related to the fact that there is not enough Russian gas. The obstacle is rather the high cost of «blue fuel» as such.» UGS operators are clearly in no hurry to store gas at such high prices as they are now ($1,100-1,300 per thousand cubic meters), continuing to expect seasonal price declines. But talking about some kind of stable trend it will be possible not earlier than the end of May: the main injection period usually falls on four months — from May to August,» the expert concludes. Gazprom on Friday said that Europe had withdrawn 51 billion cubic meters of gas from underground .8% of the volume pumped in the summer, ending the withdrawal season on March 19 at one of the lowest levels in terms of reserves for many years — only 25.2 billion cubic meters of active gas. To replenish the «underground» by the coming winter, you need to pump at least 63 billion cubic meters. Gazprom considers this an ambitious task, since in recent years such a volume has not been pumped and it is not enough for energy security in cold weather. how the cost of gas for consumers will increase
