Lead

Europe's underground gas storage facilities have fallen below 28% capacity as a prolonged heating season continues to drive withdrawals, according to data from Gas Infrastructure Europe (GIE) cited by TASS. The cumulative net withdrawals since the start of the heating season on October 13, 2025, have exceeded 60 billion cubic meters (bcm), with EU countries drawing more than 68 bcm from storage in total.

Coverage Comparison

TASS, the sole outlet whose reporting is presented here, has published multiple articles on the subject, each highlighting different facets of the situation. One report from March 20 focuses on storage levels, noting that Europe's UGS facilities were 28.66% full—12.65 percentage points below the five-year average for that date. Another article from April 2 emphasizes the record LNG imports that have partially offset storage declines, while a third piece details the seven-year low in March withdrawals.

Despite the varying focal points, the underlying data cited by TASS aligns across the reports: storage levels have dropped sharply, and LNG imports have surged to unprecedented levels.

Key Claims

  • Net withdrawals of gas from Europe's underground storage facilities have exceeded 60 bcm since the start of the heating season, according to TASS calculations based on GIE data.
  • EU countries have withdrawn more than 68 bcm of gas from storage since October 13, 2025, as reported by TASS.
  • Europe's UGS facilities were 28.66% full as of March 18, 12.65 percentage points below the five-year average for that date, according to the March 20 TASS report.
  • By the end of March, storage levels had fallen further to below 28%, with the fill level 12.93 percentage points below the five-year average, as stated in the April 2 article.
  • March gas withdrawals from European storage totaled 5.7 bcm, the lowest for that month in seven years, while injections of 3.4 bcm were the third highest on record, per TASS.
  • LNG imports set an all-time record in March, with flows from European terminals into the EU gas transmission system reaching approximately 13.7 bcm—up 15% from February and 8% from March 2025, according to TASS.
  • Q1 2026 LNG supplies from terminals to the European gas transportation system exceeded 38 bcm, 13% higher than the same period in 2025, as reported by TASS.