EU states have worked hard to secure supplies and storage – while the UK seems just to be hoping it stays mild
Europe will enter its second winter since turning off the taps to Russia’s gas pipelines with record-breaking reserves. By the end of summer, gas storage facilities were 90% full, two months ahead of schedule. But observers warn that the energy crisis is not over yet: Europe may have dramatically cut its reliance on Russian gas, but it has never been more exposed to price shocks in the global market.
For more than a decade, Russian gas pipelines were Europe’s biggest single source of imported gas. In the wake of the Ukraine invasion, these imports plunged by two-thirds from their peak in 2019. In their place Norway’s pipelines became Europe’s largest single source of gas.
