EU Commission sets 50% gas storage target for February 2025, document shows
LONDON, Nov 29 (Reuters) - Europe has set in a draft document a target for its gas stores to be 50% full by Feb. 1, 2025, the European Commission said on Friday, to ensure security of supply amid forecasts of a cold winter and concerns over Russian gas disruption.
The target has been set to make sure the bloc's gas stores do not run too low over the winter months and to maintain stable supply given the expected end of Russian gas supply to Europe via the Ukraine transit route.
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"Setting the February target to a Union minimum average around 50% aims to reinforce security of gas supply by ensuring high availability from the storages in December 2024 and January 2025 when gas demand is high. This will be particularly important in case the 2024-2025 winter is colder than average." it said in a document.
Reuters reported on Wednesday that Gazprom is making the assumption that no more gas will flow to Europe via Ukraine after Dec. 31 in its internal planning for 2025.
Kyiv has said it wants to end the transit deal, which will bring a stop to more than half a century of gas flows from Siberia to the markets of central Europe that began during Soviet times and has been a steady source of Russian budget revenue.
Meanwhile, forecasts indicate Europe could be set for the coldest winter since Russia's invasion of Ukraine, boosting demand for LNG and keeping energy costs high, said Daniel Hynes, senior commodity strategist at ANZ bank.
The news sent EU gas prices higher at market close, with the benchmark front-month contract at the Dutch TTF hub closing 1.22 euros higher at 47.5 euros per megawatt hour (MWh), or $15.00/mmBtu.
EU gas stocks have recently seen a faster pace of withdrawals as cold weather spread across Northwest Europe. Storage is currently 86.65% full, compared to around 97% last year.
(Reporting By Susanna Twidale and Marwa Rashad; Editing by Andrew Heavens and David Evans)