ABNA24 - Germany will not be able to fill underground gas storage facilities (UGS) to the target by the November 1 deadline, Susanne Ungrad, the official representative of the German Ministry of Economy stated at a government briefing in Berlin on Friday.
"Currently, the occupancy rate of gas storage facilities is about 62%, that is, the average of 70% has not been reached," the Reuters news agency quoted Ungrad as saying.
The Ministry of Economy explained the current situation with the ongoing conflict in the Middle East, which provoked a significant increase in energy prices.
At the same time, the representative of the department clarified that the UGS operators will not be held responsible for the shortage of gas, since such sanctions are not provided for by law.Ungrad stressed that failure to implement the plan would not pose a threat to the country's energy security in the coming winter.
She noted that the situation now is "completely different" than in 2022, and Germany has the capacity to quickly obtain additional volumes of fuel.The ministry named four state-owned LNG terminals in Wilhelmshaven, Brunsbüttel and Stade, as well as two private terminals operated by Deutsche Regas, as guarantors of stability.
"So we will be able to receive LNG supplies throughout the heating season, in addition to supplies from Norway and other European countries via European gas pipelines," explained a representative of the German Ministry of Economy.
Gazprom CEO Alexey Miller admitted on the same day that if the coming winter in Europe was cold, gas prices in the region could reach $2.5 thousand per 1,000 cubic meters. He noted that the Europeans had also set a series of historical anti-records for pumping gas into underground storage facilities.
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