Russian Gas: European Parliament Revises Storage Rules

The European Parliament has amended legislation on natural gas storage rules, introducing a requirement to report the share of imported gas of Russian origin in the gas storage facilities of EU member states. The new rules aim to improve the monitoring of Russian gas storage situations within the European Union, reports Ukrinform.

The legislation passed in 2022 demonstrated that Europe was able to protect its citizens in a situation where Russia used gas as a weapon of blackmail. The latest revision will provide more flexibility and less bureaucracy, but most importantly, it will lower gas prices in Europe at a time when we continue to move towards energy independence from unreliable suppliers

- stated rapporteur Boris Budka from Poland.

The package of amendments provides greater flexibility for member states regarding the deadline for filling gas storage facilities to 90% for a safe winter period. Instead of a strict requirement to reach 90% by November 1, the European Parliament now obliges member states to achieve this at any time between October 1 and December 1. MEPs believe this will ease market tension and lower gas prices.

Member states are also allowed to deviate from the target storage filling level by a maximum of 10 percentage points in challenging market conditions, including cases of market speculation that hinder economically efficient filling of storage. The European Commission can also increase this deviation by 5 percentage points for one season if adverse market conditions persist. The mandatory storage filling scheme has been extended until the end of 2027.

The European Parliament has made changes to the legislation on the storage of Russian gas aimed at ensuring the security of gas supply, more flexible control of storage filling, and lowering gas prices in Europe. The new rules also provide for the possibility of deviating from the mandatory level of storage filling in difficult conditions, allowing for better responses to market fluctuations.