The EU will need to spend at least €10bn more than last year to refill its gas stores ahead of winter, after the first cold season in four years left its reserves heavily depleted.
Following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, the bloc agreed to refill storage to 90 per cent of capacity each summer, to avoid disruptions in the colder months. After this winter Europe’s gas tanks were two-thirds empty in March, requiring a significant effort and cost over the summer to restore them to normal levels.
“Europe had the first real winter since the war in Ukraine,” said Ano Kuhanathan, an analyst at Allianz Trade, which provides insurance to traders. He added that a lack of wind for renewable power generation had also pushed up the consumption of gas.