EU Tells Member States Not to Wait to Fill Up Gas Storage

The European Union’s energy chief has told member states to start filling gas storage early in order to avoid competition for supplies that could cause a spike in prices over the summer, as the bloc seeks to mitigate the fallout from the Iran war.

Governments should also lower their gas storage filling targets to 80% and make the most of the flexibilities offered by EU law, the EU’s Energy Commissioner Dan Jorgensen wrote in a letter, seen by Bloomberg News. Countries can deviate from that 80% goal by 10 percentage points, with a further five percentage point deviation available in unfavorable market conditions. Countries have until Dec. 1 to meet their gas storage obligations.