IEA head Fatih Birol warns of European gas storage

The director-general of the International Energy Agency on Wednesday said Europe’s gas reserves were nearly full this winter, but the following could pose significant challenges.

Asked following a meeting of the Finnish Economic Council, Fatih Birol said nearly 90% of Europe’s gas storage is full.

“I would have hoped that European countries would be much more agile, much more … quick to react to our recommendations,” he told reporters. IEA 10-point plan on how to reduce Europe’s dependence on Russian gas After the Kremlin’s invasion of Ukraine.

“But it’s not bad where we are. Without surprises like political and technological surprises, if winter is… a normal winter, Europe will have a few bruises here and there this winter.” but we can come in February and March.”

At this point, Birol said storage levels will likely drop to 25% to 30%. “The question is, how do we go from 25% or 30% to [for the] Winter 2023… 80-90%? ”

“What helped me this time was [is that] We have been importing gas from Russia for the past few months,” he said. He added that China was “importing less gas than it otherwise would have” due to what Birol called a “very weak economic performance”.

The scenario could change in 2023, particularly with regard to China, Birol said. [a] The months from March to the following winter are quite difficult. ”

“So this winter is difficult, but next winter could also be very difficult,” he said, adding that preparations for the second half should start today.

Birol’s comments come at a time when Europe is scrambling to boost its energy supply as the war in Ukraine continues.

Russia was the largest supplier of both oil and natural gas to the EU last year. According to Eurostatbut in a report released on Monday, the IEA said gas exports from Russia to the European Union had dropped significantly this year.

“Despite available production and transport capacity, Russia has cut gas supplies to the European Union by nearly 50% year-on-year since the beginning of 2022,” said the Paris-based organization. The latest gas market report said.

“In the current situation, it is not possible to rule out a complete suspension of Russia’s pipeline gas supply to the European Union ahead of the 2022/23 heating season, when European gas markets are at their most vulnerable,” the report said. added.

As a sign of how difficult the current situation is, energy companies Orsted recently announced that it will Continue or resume operations at three fossil fuel facilities After being ordered to do so by the Danish authorities.

Orsted, whose biggest stakeholder is the Danish government, said in a statement last weekend that the order was made “to ensure the security of the Danish electricity supply.”

Days before Orsted’s announcement, another big European energy company, Germany’s RWEsaid three of its lignite or lignite units “will temporarily return to [the] Strengthen security of supply in the electricity market and save gas in power generation. ”

Each unit has a capacity of 300 megawatts, according to RWE. “Their deployment is initially limited to June 30, 2023,” he added.