Germany failed to meet the target of gas reserves before winter. The Financial Times. Germany enters the winter with gas stocks well below target, leaving Europe's largest economy and possibly other EU countries exposed to further price increases and market turmoil. Germany's gas storage facilities are 62% full, far below the level required by law for infrastructure operators. According to this requirement, before the start of the heating season, gas storage facilities must be filled up to 80%. The EU as a whole entered the winter with gas reserves well below historical norms, with storage capacity across the bloc at just under 75%. Germany is the EU's largest gas consumer and has the largest storage facilities, meaning the need to continue buying gas on spot markets could raise prices for other countries. As politicians insist the 27-nation bloc will not face gas shortages this winter, benchmark prices in Europe soared above 100 euros per megawatt on Wednesday for the first time since December 2022, just as the continent reeled from an energy price shock caused by Russia's war in Ukraine. Germany's economy ministry said that unlike in 2022, when the country feared blackouts after Moscow cut off pipeline gas supplies to Europe, Germany now has much more capacity thanks to liquefied natural gas terminals built after the crisis and a "tightly connected European system".

Germany failed to meet the target of gas reserves before winter. The Financial Times. Germany enters the winter with gas stocks well below target, leaving Europe's largest economy and possibly other EU countries exposed to further price increases and market turmoil. Germany's gas storage facilities are 62% full, far below the level required by law for infrastructure operators. According to this requirement, before the start of the heating season, gas storage facilities must be filled up to 80%. The EU as a whole entered the winter with gas reserves well below historical norms, with storage capacity across the bloc at just under 75%. Germany is the EU's largest gas consumer and has the largest storage facilities, meaning the need to continue buying gas on spot markets could raise prices for other countries. As politicians insist the 27-nation bloc will not face gas shortages this winter, benchmark prices in Europe soared above 100 euros per megawatt on Wednesday for the first time since December 2022, just as the continent reeled from an energy price shock caused by Russia's war in Ukraine. Germany's economy ministry said that unlike in 2022, when the country feared blackouts after Moscow cut off pipeline gas supplies to Europe, Germany now has much more capacity thanks to liquefied natural gas terminals built after the crisis and a "tightly connected European system".