Around 30 billion cubic meters of gas could be missing next year if supplies from Russia are completely stopped.
Europe is at risk of running out of gas in the winter of 2023-2024, the International Energy Agency (IEA) warned on Thursday, urging governments to “act immediately” to cut demand in particular. The IEA, an agency set up by the OECD in 1974 to advise governments on their energy policies, estimates that around 30 billion cubic meters of gas could be missing next year in the event of a complete halt to supplies from Russia, but also because of China’s economic recovery.
Also read Why gas-filled cargo ships are stranded in Spanish waters
Europe’s reserves would then only be 65% full by the start of the 2023-2024 winter, compared to 95% today, its director Fatih Birol told some journalists during an online press conference. “The cushion offered by current reserve levels, combined with the recent fall in gas prices and unusually warm temperatures, should not lead to overly optimistic conclusions going forward,” the IEA warns in this analysis, which highlights the end of summer 2023. The global geopolitical and economic conditions for raising and filling reserves should have changed significantly compared to 2022.
SEE ALSO – Russia accuses London of involvement in the sabotage of the Nord Stream gas pipelines and the attack in the Black Sea