An expert “who knows the German gas market like no other” is quoted by Die Zeit on Feb. 17 as saying, “Everyone in the industry is now praying for warm weather” because of the extremely low level of gas storage facilities in Germany. The expert “does not want to be quoted or identified in any way” and is not considered “an alarmist.”
But he warns: “Anyone who takes a look at Germany’s gas storage levels can understand.... While Germany continues to shiver through the winter, gas storage levels are falling every day. The average fill level is currently only 24%, with Bavaria barely reaching 18%. The south is particularly affected, because there are not as many storage facilities there, but there is a lot of industry that requires a lot of gas.”
While all media are sounding the alarm because of the above, the Industry Ministry declared on Feb. 16 that “the security of supply in Bavaria, Germany, and our neighboring states is not jeopardized.”
It is reported that the reason why gas storage levels are so low is because of the price mechanism. Gas is being bought on the future market and storage facilities are normally filled in summer, when the offer is higher than the demand. However, since the supply of gas on the world market has increased, and a mild weather was expected, future prices for gas in winter have been lower than spot prices in summer.
Of course, had Germany kept its pipeline gas supplies from Russia, the situation would be much different. But “Russia decided to cut cheap energy supplies to Europe,” as Emmanuel Macron nicely ut it in his “European Power” interview last week. Welcome to the energy free market Hell. Hell, as Dante explained in his Commedia, is pretty cold in its lowest circle.
