EU Gas Storage Measures Definitively Adopted

The EU Council has adopted measures this morning aimed at ensuring gas storage capacities in the EU are filled before the winter season and shared between member states where required.

• The regulation provides that underground gas storage on member states’ territory must be filled to at least 80% of their capacity before the winter of 2022/2023 and to 90% before the following winter periods.
• The European Commission presented the proposal for a regulation on 23 March 2022, but it was not definitively adopted until today as EU energy ministers meet in Luxembourg.
• The regulation will shortly be published in the Official Journal of the EU, and will enter into force on the day after its publication.
• Overall, the EU will attempt collectively to fill 85% of the total underground gas storage capacity in the EU in 2022 according to the EU Commission statement out today.
• As gas storage capacities and national situations vary greatly, depending on their situation, member states will be able to partially meet the storage target by counting stocks of LNG or alternative fuels.
• To reflect the situation of member states with very large storage capacities compared to their domestic gas consumption, the filling obligation for underground stocks will be limited to a volume corresponding to 35% of the average annual gas consumption of member states over the last 5 years.
• Some member states do not have storage facilities on their territory, and so the regulation provides that they should store 15% of their annual domestic gas consumption in stocks located in other member states.