Gas storage filling slowly due to Hormuz, needs more replenishment than in past years

European gas storage facilities are significantly less full after winter than in recent years, and refilling has so far been slow. Storage facilities are currently around 38% full, compared with 46% at the same time last year. The market is further complicated by the tense situation surrounding LNG supplies and unfavourable futures prices, which reduce traders’ incentive to store gas for winter.

Europe is entering the main phase of the injection season with relatively low gas inventories. According to data from Energostat, European Union storage facilities were 37.7% full as of 23 May. This is 8.2 percentage points lower than on the same day last year and also significantly below the historical average for this date of 50.1%.

This year’s starting position is also weaker than in the past two years. In the second half of May 2023, European storage facilities were around two-thirds full, with a similar level in 2024. This year’s figure is closer to 2021 and 2022—the period before and during the energy crisis, when the gas market faced greater uncertainty, particularly due to reduced gas imports from Russia.