As is usual in winter, the fill levels in German gas storage facilities continue to decline. In the morning, the total fill level was around 72.2 percent. That was 0.4 percentage points less than the previous day, according to preliminary data from the European gas storage association GIE.

The largest German storage facility in Rehden, Lower Saxony, was 87.8 percent full. Throughout the EU, the fill level was around 65.2 percent. That was 0.5 percentage points less than the day before.

The filling levels in Germany have been falling overall since January 9th. Before that, data had been stored for more than two weeks - which is not typical for the time of year.

The storage facilities compensate for fluctuations in gas consumption and thus form a buffer system for the market. The filling levels usually decrease after the start of the heating period in autumn. On the morning of November 14, a fill level of 100 percent was recorded. On February 1, the storage tanks were 78.6 percent, almost twice as full as required by the Energy Industry Act on this date.

It should be noted that gas continues to flow to Germany through pipeline imports, namely from Norway, the Netherlands, Belgium and France. Germany now also receives natural gas via new LNG terminals on the German coast.