MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 27th September, 2022) January will be the most difficult month for the EU, as it is unknown whether underground gas storage (UGS) facilities in Europe will cope with consumption peaks amid a drop in Russian gas supplies, Gazprom Export said on Tuesday.
Europeans have decided to reduce the demand for gas consumption by 15% compared to its average level over the past five years for the period from August to March 2023, the company said in a statement, casting doubt whether such a decrease will be enough to prevent rolling blackouts in the autumn-winter period.
"The answer to this question will depend on many circumstances, primarily on weather conditions. The most difficult winter month will be January, when consumption peaks steadily exceed 1.8 billion cubic meters per day," the statement read.
"The capacities of European UGS facilities have historically had the potential to cover these peaks, but will they be able to cope with this task, given the fall in pipeline gas supplies from Russia due to the fault of the Europeans themselves?" the statement added.
