As the winter gas window approaches, underground gas storage reserves in Europe have fallen to historic lows. The European Union has urgently lowered the threshold for meeting gas storage standards, and Germany has also introduced a market-oriented backup plan to address potential gas crises.

As of August 6, 2026, the total storage capacity of underground gas storage facilities in Europe has fallen below the lowest record in history, and Gazprom has warned that low reserves will directly affect the stability of winter gas consumption for the public. The EU has lowered the mandatory requirement for winter gas storage filling rate from 90% to 80%, but at the current inflation rate, the overall filling rate may not reach 75% by October 1, 2026. Germany has explicitly stated that it will not initiate government natural gas procurement and will leave it to private enterprises to fill the gap through pipeline gas and liquefied natural gas, in order to avoid administrative intervention and push up market gas prices.Editor/Min Jing