Moscow - Countries of the European Union are required to save gas in order to fill gas storage facilities at a higher pace, the European Commission said on Thursday.
“We are already getting 75% more gas from other countries than in 2021. But we now need to save gas to fill our storage faster,” the Commission tweeted, adding that the EU “faces the risk of further cuts of gas supply from Russia.“
Last week, the European Parliament approved the plan to restock gas reserves before winter. Within the plan, EU energy ministers agreed to set a mandatory level of gas in storage facilities at 80% by November 1, 2022.
Member countries and gas operators were encouraged to restock up to 85%. Earlier this week, European Commissioner for Energy Kadri Simson said that EU gas storage facilities were only 66% full.
On Tuesday, the European Council reached a political agreement on the Commission's proposal “save gas for a safe winter” stipulating a voluntary 15% reduction in gas consumption among EU member countries to help fill gas storage facilities ahead of winter.
The measure will be in effect from August 1, 2022, to March 31, 2023. Moreover, EU member countries have the opportunity to declare a state of EU alert, which will trigger compulsory gas consumption reductions among all member countries.
Since 2021, energy prices in Europe have been growing as part of a global trend. After the beginning of Russia's operation in Ukraine and the adoption of several packages of sanctions against Moscow in the West, inflation accelerated and fuel prices have been growing exponentially.
On Wednesday, the prices reached $2,500 per 1,000 cubic meters after Gazprom announced its plans to reduce supplies via a key gas pipeline starting July 27 to no more than 33 million cubic meters per day, 20% of the pipeline's nominal capacity.
Sputnik