Europe is preparing for winter with partially filled gas storage facilities amid a sharp decline in Russian gas supplies and high prices, relying on LNG imports and renewable energy sources. How the winter season unfolds will depend on weather conditions, Secretary General of the Gas Exporting Countries Forum (GECF) Philip Mshelbila said in an interview with Russia's Vesti news portal.
He emphasized that since 2022, the consumption of gas supplied through pipelines in Europe has decreased significantly.
"Consumption of gas supplied through pipelines has decreased from approximately 450 billion cubic meters to 380 billion cubic meters, and it has fallen even further this year. This is a significant decline. Europe has considered various options to mitigate the effects of this reduction.
The first option is to reduce gas consumption by improving energy efficiency or replacing natural gas with renewable energy sources and other energy sources. Some countries are considering prioritizing nuclear energy, but the main focus is on renewable energy sources.
The second option is to use alternative pipelines for gas supplies. However, these measures will not make it possible to immediately replace the large volumes of gas previously supplied from Russia.
The third option is liquefied natural gas (LNG). The construction of regasification terminals has expanded significantly in Europe. Most of these terminals receive gas from North America. Russian gas is mainly being replaced by gas supplied from the United States," Philip Mshelbila said.
He noted that gas prices have risen sharply and that getting through winter with gas storage facilities not fully filled will be a serious challenge for Europe.
"We see that gas storage levels in Europe are lower than expected. This figure is approximately between 70% and 76%. Europe will enter winter with gas storage facilities filled to less than 80%. Taking into account high prices and all the developments that have taken place, this is a serious challenge.
How Europe gets through this winter will depend on weather conditions. In other words, air temperature will be the decisive factor. If winter is mild, Europe will be able to cope with the situation thanks to imports that will continue during the winter months. However, if winter is cold, I think Europe will face difficulties. I believe it will be particularly interesting to observe how the situation develops this winter," Philip Mshelbila added.
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