London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Wednesday, Oct 08, 2025

Energy crisis: European gas storage levels at record highs - and it suggests good news for supplies

Energy crisis: European gas storage levels at record highs - and it suggests good news for supplies

Record gas storage levels this year are unlikely to mean prices drop to levels seen before the pandemic and the Ukraine war, but energy security has improved after months when the UK worried about keeping the lights on.

Energy costs could come down as European gas storage facilities are expected to end the winter season at a record of more than 50% full.

Modelling done by energy consultancy Cornwall Insight suggests gas supplies are secure after concerns of shortages following Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Fuller storage units mean less future demand for gas, which can bring down prices.

Storage facilities across Europe will end winter between 45% and 61% full - an average of 55% capacity - bypassing the previous end of winter record of 54% in 2020.


Following the start of the conflict in Ukraine, European countries raced to reduce their reliance on Russian gas, which pushed up prices and led to concerns about energy supplies in winter 2022 to 2023.

Having a greater amount of gas in storage means more is ready for winter 2023-2024 and less needs to be bought, leaving supplies more secure than in 2022.

It is a doubling from last year.

On 31 March 2022 just 26% of European storage facilities were filled, according to data from Gas Infrastructure Europe.

There was concern that the lights could not be kept on amid gas shortages. In the UK the National Grid's Electricity System Operator had warned in October that planned three-hour power blackouts could be imposed in the event of gas supplies falling short of demand.

To reduce energy demand and cope with potential shortages, EU countries formally agreed a voluntary 10% cut in gross electricity consumption and a mandatory reduction of 5% during peak use hours.

But high gas storage levels this year do not mean prices will drop to lows seen at the end of previous high storage-level winters.

Despite the "considerably more positive" forecasts, the lead research analyst at Cornwall Insight said he was cautious about saying Europe is over the worst of the energy crisis.

"Any single factor can influence the pace and pattern of storage refill, and perhaps more pertinently, change the cost paid to achieve it," Dr Matthew Chadwick said.

"We are certainly not out of the woods yet."

Factors that could bring up energy costs include weather, US exports, Chinese demand and Russian supplies.

While a mild winter helped preserve gas stocks, a summer with heatwaves would bring energy demand for air-conditioning and fans.

Imports of US liquified natural gas in the second half of last year rose significantly as reliance on Russian gas waned. Going forward, however, the US is under domestic pressure to protect consumers from price rises, which could mean less exported to Europe.

Russian gas is still relied on by Europe and will continue to be needed.

The reopening of China, following nearly three years of lockdown restrictions, and the associated economic growth will impact energy markets, the Cornwall Insight report said, though the impact is uncertain.

For those looking to hear good news about bills, Dr Chadwick is not the barer.

"Whatever the outlook for storage levels, the need to compensate for Russian pipeline volumes with expensive and volatile liquified natural gas will keep gas bills higher," he said.

"This, at least for now, is the "new normal", and consumers and economies should prepare for energy costs to remain higher than before the pandemic, and the Ukraine war, for some time to come."

Households can expect prices to be "more muted" than last year, Dr Chadwick said, as the panic from the Ukraine war outbreak subsides.

"What may ease this year is the heightened level of understandable panic that led to hectic energy-buying practices during the autumn of 2022.

"As a result, we can probably expect prices to be much more muted than 2022, despite any uncertainties that may come into play."

Gas storage facilities in the UK include Rough, a facility reopened this year off the Yorkshire coast, and the Stublach onshore facility in Cheshire.

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
France: Less Than a Month After His Appointment, the New French Prime Minister Resigns
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán stated that Hungary will not adopt the euro because the European Union is falling apart.
Sarah Mullally Becomes First Woman Appointed Archbishop of Canterbury
Mayor in western Germany in intensive care after stabbing
Australian government pays Deloitte nearly half a million dollars for a report built on fabricated quotes, fake citations, and AI-generated nonsense.
US Prosecutors Gained Legal Approval to Hack Telegram Servers
Macron Faces Intensifying Pressure to Resign or Trigger New Elections Amid France’s Political Turmoil
Standard Chartered Names Roberto Hoornweg as Sole Head of Corporate & Investment Banking
UK Asylum Housing Firm Faces Backlash Over £187 Million Profits and Poor Living Conditions
UK Police Crack Major Gang in Smuggling of up to 40,000 Stolen Phones to China
BYD’s UK Sales Soar Nearly Nine-Fold, Making Britain Its Biggest Market Outside China
Trump Proposes Farm Bailout from Tariff Revenues Amid Backlash from Other Industries
FIFA Accuses Malaysia of Forging Citizenship Documents, Suspends Seven Footballers
Latvia to Bar Tourist and Occasional Buses to Russia and Belarus Until 2026
A Dollar Coin Featuring Trump’s Portrait Expected to Be Issued Next Year
Australia Orders X to Block Murder Videos, Citing Online Safety and Public Exposure
Three Scientists Awarded Nobel Prize in Medicine for Discovery of Immune Self-Tolerance Mechanism
OpenAI and AMD Forge Landmark AI-Chip Alliance with Equity Option
Munich Airport Reopens After Second Drone Shutdown
France Names New Government Amid Political Crisis
Trump Stands Firm in Shutdown Showdown and Declares War on Drug Cartels — Turning Crisis into Opportunity
Surge of U.S. Billionaires Transforms London’s Peninsula Apartments into Ultra-Luxury Stronghold
Pro Europe and Anti-War Babiš Poised to Return to Power After Czech Parliamentary Vote
Jeff Bezos Calls AI Surge a ‘Good’ Bubble, Urges Focus on Lasting Innovation
Japan’s Ruling Party Chooses Sanae Takaichi, Clearing Path to First Female Prime Minister
Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs Sentenced to Fifty Months in Prison Following Prostitution Conviction
Taylor Swift’s ‘Showgirl’ Launch Extends Billion-Dollar Empire
Trump Administration Launches “TrumpRx” Plan to Enable Direct Drug Sales at Deep Discounts
Trump Announces Intention to Impose 100 Percent Tariff on Foreign-Made Films
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Singapore and Hong Kong Vie to Dominate Asia’s Rising Gold Trade
Trump Organization Teams with Saudi Developer on $1 Billion Trump Plaza in Jeddah
Manhattan Sees Surge in Office-to-Housing Conversions, Highest Since 2008
Switzerland and U.S. Issue Joint Assurance Against Currency Manipulation
Electronic Arts to Be Taken Private in Historic $55 Billion Buyout
Thomas Jacob Sanford Named as Suspect in Deadly Michigan Church Shooting and Arson
Russian Research Vessel 'Yantar' Tracked Mapping Europe’s Subsea Cables, Raising Security Alarms
New York Man Arrested After On-Air Confession to 2017 Parents’ Murders
U.S. Defense Chief Orders Sudden Summit of Hundreds of Generals and Admirals
Global Cruise Industry Posts Dramatic Comeback with 34.6 Million Passengers in 2024
Trump Claims FBI Planted 274 Agents at Capitol Riot, Citing Unverified Reports
India: Internet Suspended in Bareilly Amid Communal Clashes Between Muslims and Hindus
Supreme Court Extends Freeze on Nearly $5 Billion in U.S. Foreign Aid at Trump’s Request
Archaeologists Recover Statues and Temples from 2,000-Year-Old Sunken City off Alexandria
China Deploys 2,000 Workers to Spain to Build Major EV Battery Factory, Raising European Dependence
Speed Takes Over: How Drive-Through Coffee Chains Are Rewriting U.S. Coffee Culture
U.S. Demands Brussels Scrutinize Digital Rules to Prevent Bias Against American Tech
Ringo Starr Champions Enduring Beatles Legacy While Debuting Las Vegas Art Show
Private Equity’s Fundraising Surge Triggers Concern of European Market Shake-Out
Colombian President Petro Vows to Mobilize Volunteers for Gaza and Joins List of Fighters
×