OUR Germany fills her tanks natural gas faster than other countries, but in the winter it will be very difficult for her to meet her energy needs. At the moment, its stocks are at 77%, when the EU average is 75%, as Europe’s largest economy is pushing harder and speeding up its schedule. But even if it reaches its goal of filling its natural gas reservoirs by 95% by November, its reserves will be enough to cover demand for just 2.5 months if Russia shut off the fuel supply completely. This is an estimate by Klaus Müller, president of the country’s energy regulator. Speaking to Bloomberg, Mr. Miller stressed that Germany is moving a little faster now than in the past, “in terms of filling gas storage, but that doesn’t mean we can relax.” After all, he did not hide his doubts about how far Germany could achieve the goal of filling its reservoirs, as he emphasized that he could not promise that all installations in Germany would be 95% filled in November, “even if conditions are good in terms of demand and proposals” and concluded that “at best, three-quarters of the storage space will reach the goal.”

In the event of a cessation of flow from Russia, even if it fills its reservoirs by 95%.

Germany, which is heavily dependent on Russian gas, is struggling to build up stocks for the winter as Moscow drastically cut fuel flows through the key Nord Stream 1 gas pipeline, exacerbating Europe’s worst energy crisis in decades. The government has already asked citizens and businesses to reduce consumption, warned of the possibility of fuel rationing, and introduced a natural gas tax within a week. Meanwhile, the regulator is considering how it will prioritize gas supplies to certain sectors of the country that are considered important to the economy. After all, a special digital platform is used with proposals for various scenarios, which will be ready in October. Meanwhile, natural gas prices in Europe are back up after a short-term decline yesterday morning. September futures for delivery to the Netherlands, the benchmark for all of Europe, rose by 3.9% to 234.91 euros per megawatt-hour, having won back the earlier fall of 2.6%. Corresponding contracts in the UK also rose in price by 4.3%. In Germany, electricity futures for next year rose 0.9% to 512 euros per MWh and remain five times higher than the same period last year.