Gas reserves in underground storage facilities in Austria dropped below 40%

Gas reserves in underground storage facilities (UGS) in Austria decreased below 40%. This is evidenced by the published data on the website of the European association Gas Infrastructure Europe.

As of February 16, the occupancy rate of Austrian storage facilities is 39.8%. Austria is one of the leading countries in the European Union (EU) in terms of gas storage capacity and plays a key role in fuel distribution in Central Europe.

In the EU as a whole, stocks also continue to decrease against the background of active selection during the heating season. Europe's UGS facilities are 33.97% full, which is 16.2% points lower than the average for the last five years as of this date. A year earlier, the figure was 45.2%.

Among the largest countries in terms of gas storage, Germany's UGS facilities are filled by 23.95%, the Netherlands by 16%, France by 24.5%, and Italy by 51.1%. Slovakia's storage facilities are filled by 33.9%, Hungary — by 39.2%, the Czech Republic — by 37.5%, Romania — by 42.3%, Bulgaria — by 47.2%, Belgium — by 25.1%, Denmark — by 30.7%, Latvia — by 23%, Croatia — by 15.7%.

The last gas extraction season from European UGS facilities ended on March 28, 2025. At that time, the occupancy rate was 33.57%.

Since the beginning of the current heating season, which started on October 13, the EU countries have withdrawn about 59.5 billion cubic meters of gas from storage facilities. The net withdrawal exceeded 54 billion cubic meters, which is about 99% of the volumes pumped in the summer.

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The representative of the European Commission (EC), Anna-Kaisa Itkonen, said on February 13 that the gas reserves in the storage facilities of EU countries in mid-February amounted to just over 35%.

On February 12, the press service of the Russian Gazprom also reported that the remaining fuel reserves in the Baltic States' only gas storage facility are less than 25%.

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