European Union exhausts gas reserves destined for winter due to the heat wave

Published at: 09/08/2026 05:41 PM

During the month of July, European Union countries extracted more than 1 billion cubic meters of accumulated reserves for the winter season (from December to February) from underground gas stores due to the anomalous heat wave.

Last month, Europeans injected almost 17% less fuel into underground warehouses than in 2025 —9.4 billion cubic meters—, while removing 1 billion, twice as many as in July 2025, according to Sputnik calculations based on data from the Gas Infrastructure Europe (GIE) association.

Thus, the net volume of gas with which Europe filled its underground warehouses amounted to 8.4 billion cubic meters. This is the lowest level recorded in a month of July since 2020.

On the last day of July, European underground gas warehouses were 56.67% full, compared to 68.28% the previous year. At the beginning of August (by August 8), the filling level of European gas stores is approaching 58.5%.

The reason why reserves destined for winter have to be consumed is the anomalous heat wave accompanied by drought affecting the region.

On the one hand, Europeans are massively using air conditioning systems, which increases electricity consumption.

Mazo News Team