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Europe’s Gas Stocks Drop to 64% After Record Holiday Draws as Gazprom Flags Winter Risk

GIE reports inventories trailing last year, trailing the five‑year norm, after an autumn shortfall versus the EU’s 90% storage target.

Overview

  • Net withdrawals from EU underground storage now exceed 20 billion cubic meters since the heating season began on October 13, with roughly 25 bcm removed in gross terms.
  • Total gas in storage is about 71 bcm, leaving sites 64.25% full, roughly 10.6 percentage points below the five‑year average and down from 74% at this time last year.
  • Gazprom says withdrawals on December 24–25 were the highest on record for those dates, with aggregate inventories at 66.3 bcm on December 25.
  • Company data show Germany’s storage at 59.8% and the Netherlands at 52.5% over Christmas, levels reached later in the season last year.
  • The Baltic region faces particular strain as Latvia’s Inčukalns storage stands at 49.5% after starting the season near 61%, with Gazprom warning that rapid drawdowns threaten reliable supply in cold spells and could extend withdrawals into spring.