EurOil: Germany's THE stocks up on gas ahead of next winter

Trading Hub Europe (THE), the organisation that has been tasked with filling Germany’s underground gas storage facilities, said on Monday, February 6 it had contracted substantial storage capacity for next winter to provide the country with a sufficient supply buffer.

THE reported that it had booked 35 TWh of capacity at gas caverns in Wolfersberg, Katharina and Rehden, the country's largest. It had co-ordinated the booking with Germany’s economy ministry and the country’s national network regulator.

THE has so far spent €9.3bn ($10bn) on purchasing gas for storage, spearheading German efforts to stock up on the fuel ahead of next winter in the absence of Russian supply. Germany had its Russian gas supply completely cut off in summer after Gazprom restricted capacity flow via the Nord Stream 1 pipeline. With the pipeline now inoperable as a result of suspected sabotage in September, and with westward flow via the Yamal-Europe rendered impossible as a result of sanctions, it is unlikely that this supply will return anytime soon.

The bookings that THE announced on February 6 account for 14% of Germany’s total gas storage capacity, the company said.

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